The Hindu Temple v2.c11.s8.30

v2.c11.s8.30

The Āmalaka ring-stone on the shaft of the Pillar of the Śikhara symbolises the celestial region where the rays of the sun spread like the filaments of the lotus of the zenith ('Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad', VI. 3. 6). This region is above the body of the temple, above the truncated superstructure, around the Central Pillar; there the Central Pillar gives up its shaft and emerges from the Āmalaka as it were in its inmost core only, as finial (stūpikā).¹⁷⁹ Inasmuch as the Āmalaka has retained its meaning as ring-stone it is a symbol of passage, of exit from this world and entry into heaven. In its appearance however on the monument it is the crown of the temple. In it are gathered the slopes of the Śikhara; their multifarious profiles are commuted into the unity of its solid and comprehensive shape.