Glossary

100 KARNATAKA TEMPLES: A GLOSS ON THIS GLOSSARY

This glossary has been compiled for those, like its author, largely unfamiliar with Hindu, Khmer and related architectural vocabularies. It has been designed as an integral tool for working with the www.karnataka100temples.com website. Roughly 250 terms and phrases are cross-referenced with the 750 pages of commentary accompanying the slides in the sites surveyed. Every occurrence of a term or phrase within these commentaries is linked to its definition in this glossary; by hovering the mouse over that word in the text, the glossary definition will pop-up beside it; moving the mouse away will cause the glossary pop-up to disappear.

In light of the inexhaustible abundance of Hindu myth, scripture, theory, it was decided to limit this glossary to words and phrases related to architecture broadly defined. Online resources from Wikipedia to Quora provide easy access to the larger cultural context. The Wisdom Library constitutes an invaluable compendium of the most significant usage and etymology of central vocabulary in the Indic lexicon.

No doubt many key terms have been overlooked; it is hoped the remainder will prove sufficiently abundant and their explanations sufficiently generous, not to say gratuitous, that no user needs feel deprived. No doubt some will sympathize Dr. Johnson’s sentiment about Milton’s Paradise Lost: “None ever wished it longer.”