Editing Mount Meru (section)

== Architecture ==
The concept of a holy mountain surrounded by various circles was incorporated into ancient [[Hindu temple]] architecture with a ''[[Shikhara]]'' (''Śikhara'') — a Sanskrit word translating literally to "peak" or "summit".  Early examples of this style can be found at the [[Harshat Mata Temple]] and [[Harshnath Temple]] from the 8th century CE in [[Rajasthan]], [[Western India]]. This concept also continued outside India, such as in [[Bali]], where temples feature [[Meru tower]]s.

In Buddhist temples, the [[Mahabodhi Temple]] in [[Bodh Gaya]] is the earliest example of the 5th- to 6th-century depiction. Many other Buddhist temples took on this form, such as the [[Wat Arun]] in [[Thailand]] and the [[Hsinbyume Pagoda]] in [[Myanmar]].

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File:Angkor Wat-108-Spiegelung-2007-gje.jpg|The five central towers of [[Angkor Wat]], before a Hindu and later a Buddhist temple in [[Siem Reap]], [[Cambodia]], symbolize the peaks of Mount Meru
File:Sunset at Wat Chaiwatthanaram, Ayutthaya, Thailand.jpg|''Prang'' of [[Wat Chaiwatthanaram]], a Buddhist temple in [[Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya (city)|Ayutthaya]], Thailand, representing Mount Meru
File:วัดแจ้ง2.jpg|A Buddhist ''[[Prang (architecture)|prang]]'' in [[Wat Arun]], [[Bangkok]], representing Mount Sumeru
File:Min Kun, Myanmar (Burma) - panoramio (23).jpg|[[Hsinbyume Pagoda]] in [[Mandalay]], [[Myanmar]], representing Mount Sumeru
File:Pura Ulun Danu Bratan, 2022.jpg|The ''meru'' of [[Pura Ulun Danu Bratan]] is dedicated to [[Shiva]] and his consort [[Parvathi]]
File:Jambudweep Rachna.jpg|Depiction of Mount Meru at [[Jambudweep]], a Jain temple in [[Uttar Pradesh]] 
</gallery>