- abbeystead: The land on which an abbey stands.
- abbeystede: The land on which an abbey stands.
- anaimaktos: Ancient Greek altars on which fruits or inanimate things were offered, without fire or blood.
- antependium: The frontal of an altar.
- apyroi: Altars on which sacrifices were offered without fire.
- ara: Roman term for altar.
- ara turicrema: An altar on which frankincense was sprinkled and burnt.
- fire altar: An open-air stone structure for the cult of the sacred fire in ancient Persia.
- gradin: A step. 2. A raised shelf above and at the back of an altar.
- mensa: The stone slab or other piece forming the top of an altar. 2. The upper surface of an altar.
- paliotto: Altar-facing, hanging on all four sides, unlike an antependium which covers the front alone.
- predella: The narrow ledge on which an altarpiece rests on an altar.
- salunkha: In Indian architecture, an altar.
- tan: In traditional Chinese architecture, a series of raised platforms used as a podium or altar.
- tzompantli: At Chichen Itza, Yucatan, a Toltec stone altar platform decorated with carved skulls. 2. In Mesoamerica, a rack to which the heads of sacrificial victims were skewered; usually located in a sacred precinct.
- anacampteria: In ancient religious establishments, the apartments or lodgings of persons who sought the privilege of sanctuary.
- Buddha: Title of Gautama Siddhartha c563-c483 B.C., Indian philosopher, religious leader, and founder of Buddhism. Also called Gautama Buddha.
- Buddhism: A religion, originated in India by Buddha (Gautama) and later spreading to China, Burma, Japan, Tibet, and parts of southeast Asia, holding that life is full of suffering caused by desire and that the way to end this suffering is through enlightenment that enables one to halt the endless sequence of births and deaths to which one is otherwise subject.
- Buddhist: That of India at the time of the great Buddhist religious movement, and which is generally assumed to be of the 6th century B.C., and the centuries immediately following. The buildings are mainly in the northern part of the peninsula, from Kashmir in the far northwest to the Ganges, and in Ceylon; but on the western coast of the peninsula they extend as far south as Bombay… (Compare Chaitya Cave; Vimana; and see India, Architecture of).
- butsu: A representation of Buddha.
- daibutsu: A large representation of Buddha.
- Four Noble Truths: The doctrines of Buddha: all life is suffering: the cause of suffering is desire; cessation of suffering is possible through Nirvana – the extinction of craving: Nirvana can be reached through mental and moral self-purification.
- Gautama Buddha: Title of Gautama Siddhartha c563-c483 B.C., Indian philosopher, religious leader, and founder of Buddhism. Also called Gautama Buddha.
- bomon: In ancient Greece, an altar to a god.
- teahouse: A Japanese garden house used for the tea ceremony. See sukiya.
- tea-house: Garden-building in which tea was drunk…
- initi: The Dakota name for Sweat Lodge. Also called intipi and iniwkeya…
- sweat house: See sweat lodge.
- sweat lodge: Also see sweat lodge.
- sweathouse: Also see sweat lodge.
- temazcalli: Also see temazcalli.
- alms box: Also see alms chest.
- ark of the covenant: The chest containing two stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments, carried by the Hebrews during their desert wanderings after the Exodus.
- an: A Chinese nunnery.
- chai t’ang: In a Chinese religious establishment, a room which serves as a reception area for vegetarians.
- baptism: A sacrament of initiation into Christianity, symbolic of spiritual regeneration, marked by a ceremonial immersion or application of water.
- ce: In the current, Common, or Christian era (period).
- Christianity: The religion, founded on the teachings of Jesus Christ, including the Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox churches.
- Dark Ages: The early part of the Middle Ages, from about A.D. 476 to c1400.
- claustral: Also see cloistral.
- fratery: Same as frater.
- manse: The official residence of a clergyman.
- nandaimon: The gate at the entrance of a Japanese Buddhist monastic compound (literally “south great gate”).
- vicarage: In England, the home or residence of a vicar.
- aryaka: In Indian architecture, a line of five columns which symbolize the Five Dhiyana Buddhas.
- ostensorium: A device in which the Eucharistic wafer may be displayed.
- ostensory: A device in which the Eucharistic wafer may be displayed.
- Hathor: The Egyptian goddess of love and happiness, often represented with the head or horns of a cow.
- pharaoh: Any of the rulers of ancient Egypt who were believed to be divine and had absolute power.
- conventiculum: A building used by a heretical congregation.
- bhoga-mandir: A Hindu sacrificial pavilion.
- Hinduism: The dominant religion of India, based upon the religion of the original Aryan settlers as expounded and evolved in the Vedas, having a diverse body of philosophy and cultural practices, many popular cults, and a large pantheon symbolizing a supreme being of many forms and natures. Buddhism is outside the Hindu tradition but is regarded as a related religion.
- pura: In Bali, a terraced sanctuary consisting of three courts enclosed by walls, connected by richly decorated gates; symbolizes meru, the “world mountain.” 2. A house, village, or town in Bali.
- Vedas: The oldest sacred writings of Hinduism composed between 1500 and 800 B.C., incorporating four collections hymns, prayers, and liturgical formulas: Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda, Sama-Veda, and Atharva-Veda.
- houses of worship: A place where people gather for purposes of observing religious ceremonies.
- Islam: The religious faith of Muslims, based on the teachings of the prophet Muhammad, the central themes of which are belief in the one God, Allah, the existence of Paradise and Hell, and the universal Judgment Day to come. Also, the civilization built on Islamic faith. Also called Muhammadanism.
- Mohammed: Arab prophet and founder of Islam, A.D. 570-632.
- Moslem: Of or pertaining to the law, religion, or civilization of Islam; a believer in Islam.
- Muhammad: Arab prophet and founder of Islam, A.D. 570-632. Also, Mohammed.
- Muhammadanism: The religious faith of Muslims, based on the teachings of the prophet Muhammad, the central themes of which are belief in the one God, Allah, the existence of Paradise and Hell, and the universal Judgment Day to come. Also, the civilization built on Islamic faith. Also called Muhammadanism.
- Muslim: Of or pertaining to the law, religion, or civilization of Islam; a believer in Islam. Also, Moslem, Muslem.
- meeting house: A house of public worship in one of the non-liturgical faiths.
- meetinghouse: A house of public worship in one of the non-liturgical faiths.
- sacred: Of or pertaining to religious objects, rites, or practices, as opposed to the secular or profane.
- manual: The keyboard of an organ, and its cabinetwork.
- absis: Also see apsis.
- destraria: A late Latin term for deambulatory.
- abaton: A sanctuary not to be entered by the public; a holy of holies.
- inner sanctum: A most sacred place.
- bethel: A place of worship.
- fane: A consecrated place, as a church; a sanctuary, a temple.
- gambhara: In Jain architecture (India), a sanctuary cell.
- sancta sanctorum: Also see sancta sanctorum.
- croft: An undercroft.
- lingdao: The spirit way that led from the south gate to a royal tomb of the Tang dynasty, lined with stone pillars and sculptured animal and human figures.
- mithraeum: An underground cave-like sanctuary devoted to the mystery cult of the Persian sun god Mithra. Such sanctuaries were constructed throughout the Roman Empire during the 2nd and 3rd century A.D.
- tribunal: In an ancient Roman basilica, a raised platform for the curule chairs of the magistrates. 2. A place of honor, immediately to the right and to the left of the stage in a Roman theatre, one for the magistrate who provided for the play and for the emperor, and the other for the Vestal Virgins and the empress.
- kexen: Among the northern American Indians, a symbolical pole.
- sun pole: A sacred pole made from the “mystery tree” with much ceremony, for use in the “mystery” lodge during the sun dance of the Sioux Indians. The devotees are attached to the sun pole by thongs fastened to skewers which are passed through their flesh.
- totem pole: A pole carved and painted with representations of totems, erected by the Indians of the Northwestern American coast.
- totem post: A wooden post set up in front of a dwelling by some North American Indians, carved with totemic emblems. The most remarkable are those of the tribes of the Northwest coast, like the Haida.
- xat: A carved post in North American Indian art.
- ambe: A pulpit or rostrum.
- ambi: A pulpit or rostrum.
- mambar: Same as mimbar; a different transliteration.
- prie-dieu: A small desk before which a person may kneel when praying.
- pulpit: An elevated reading desk for a preacher.
- anda: The hemispherical dome of an Indian stupa.
- bedehouse: An almshouse where the prayers of the inmates were expected for the soul of the benefactor.
- chhattra: Also see chattra.
- chorten: A Tibetan stupa.
- koil: Also see kovil.
- masged: See masjid.
- parekklesion: A Greek chapel; may be attached or free-standing.
- pradakshina-patha: A circumambulatory path around a stupa or Hindu sanctuary.
- sacellum: A small Roman sanctuary, usually an unroofed enclosure with a small altar. Sometimes, a roofed funerary chapel.
- sthupa: Same as stupa.
- temascale: Also see temazcalli.
- that: A Siamese stupa.
- umbrella: See chattra.
- yasti: The central shaft of a stupa, which supports the chattravali.
- chedi: A stupa-like Thai monument erected above a cella containing a relic.
- fertre: Also see feretory.
- shrine: A receptacle to contain sacred relics; by extension, a building for that purpose.
- stupa: A Buddhist memorial mound, erected to enshrine a relic or to commemorate a sacred site; consists of an artificial mound, raised on a platform and surrounded by an outer ambulatory with a stone railing and four gateways, crowned by a multiple sunshade.
- tope: A Buddhist monument, common in India and southeastern Asia, consisting of a tumulus of masonry, generally domical in form, for the preservation of relics, when it is distinguished as a dagoba; or to commemorate an event, when it is called a stupa. It is sometimes elevated on a square, cylindrical, or polygonal substructure built vertically or in terraces, and is nearly always crowned with a finial, called a tee, shaped like an umbrella.
- priory: A religious house governed by a prioress.
- sobo: The living quarters for priests in Japan during the Asuka, Nara, and Heian periods.
- conventicle: A room occupied by an assembly for secret (because illegal) worship or for nonconformist worship.
- beth-midrash: A traditional Jewish school.
- lardos: A screen behind an altar, at the back of a seat, etc.
- adytum: The innermost shrine in some ancient places of worship.
- artemiseion: A building or shrine of Artemis.
- artemision: A building or shrine dedicated to the worship of Artemis.
- chigi: Originally, the projecting barge couples, at the ends of the ridge of a roof in a Shinto shrine; now usually a pair of crossed timbers which are placed at each end of the ridge; also called forked finials.
- haiden: A hall of worship, usually in front of the honden of a Shinto shrine.
- harmika: A shrine or relic receptacle on top of the dome of a Buddhist stupa, surrounded by a railing and surmounted by a chattravali.
- hashira: A sacred post in Shinto architecture, shaped by human hands.
- honden: In Shinto architecture, the main inner shrine.
- jinja: A Shinto shrine. Also see jinsha.
- jinsha: A Shinto shrine. Also see jinsha.
- Kasuga-zukuri: A style of Shinto shrine, characterized by a hipped roof extending from the main roof, over a centrally placed entrance stair at one gable end.
- katsuogi: On certain Shinto shrines, short circular billets placed at right angles to the ridge of the roof; may be as many as ten in number.
- lararium: In Roman houses, a small shrine to the household gods (lares).
- lares compitales: Two shrines at the intersection of two ancient Roman roads (one for each road), honoring the lares as tutelary divinities.
- madar: In Jain architecture (India), a large subsidiary shrine.
- metroon: A shrine or sanctuary of the Great Mother, or Mother of the Gods; called also Basileia, or Queen…
- naiskos: A small shrine.
- shinto: The moral code or system of Japan. Shinto shrines are plain wooden structures, without images, thatched, and approached by passing under one or more torii, or porches composed of two posts bearing one or more cross beams, generally carved. The latter are accepted as symbols of Shinto.
- shintoo: The moral code or system of Japan. Shinto shrines are plain wooden structures, without images, thatched, and approached by passing under one or more torii, or porches composed of two posts bearing one or more cross beams, generally carved. The latter are accepted as symbols of Shinto.
- Taisha style: The oldest style of Shinto shrines in existence. The Grand Shrine of lzumo on the coast of the Sea of Japan is the outstanding example, consisting of four compartments surrounded by a verandah with a balustrade.
- heleion: A building or enclosure dedicated to the sun considered as a divinity.
- helieium: A building or enclosure dedicated to the sun considered as a divinity.
- Tao: The Way: the creative principle that orders the universe.
- Taoism: Chinese philosophy and religion considered next to Confucianism in importance. Based on the teachings of the Chinese philosopher, Lao-tzu, c604-531 B.C., it emphasizes a life of simplicity and noninterference with the course of natural events in order to attain a happy existence in harmony with the Tao. As a religion, it dates from A.D. 143, becoming popular during the decline of the Han dynasty and the introduction of Buddhism to China.
- Quetzalcoatl: Priest-ruler of the Toltec people, who was deified as the feathered-serpent god called by that name.
- ambulatio: Also see pteroma.
- hut rings: Rings or circles of earth apparently marking former sites of huts or wigwams in the United States, especially in the Mississippi Valley. They are from 15 to 20 feet in diameter.
- temple wigwam: An American Indian house or wigwam devoted to religious uses.
Also see Architecture index.