kalasha
कलश kalashaThe pot-shaped finial crowning the vimana of a temple; also the sacred pot filled with water and used in puja.
Where this term appears
- Nagara, Dravida and Vesara: The Styles of the Hindu Temple Temples
At the summit sits the amalaka , a ribbed stone disc named for the amalaka fruit, and above that a kalasha , a pot-shaped finial.
- Why is a coconut broken in Hindu ceremonies? Journal
Whole and unbroken, set on the mouth of a pot filled with water and crowned with mango leaves, it becomes the purna-kumbha or kalasha , the vessel of fullness, and in that form it is not smashed at all.
- Anatomy of a Hindu Temple: Gopuram to Garbhagriha Temples
At the summit sits the amalaka , a ribbed, cushion-shaped stone disc named after the myrobalan fruit it resembles, and on top of that the kalasha , the pot-shaped finial that crowns the whole.
- What is a Hindu Temple? Temples
Above it rides the kalasha , the pot or vase finial that finishes the spire.