Pancharatha

Not to be confused with Pancharatna (architecture).
See also Pancha Rathas, religious buildings in Bhubaneswar
Drawing of a pancharatha building

A Hindu temple is a pancharatha when there are five ratha (on plan) or paga (on elevation) on the tower of the temple (generally a shikhara).[1] The rathas are vertical offset projection or facets. The name comes from the sanskrit Pancha (=five) and Ratha (=chariot), but the link with the concept of chariot is not clear.

There are also temples with three rathas (triratha), seven rathas (saptaratha) and nine rathas (navaratha).[1]

Triratha, Pancharatha and Saptaratha
  1. ^ a b "Temple Architecture of Orissa". Archived from the original on 2012-10-13. Retrieved 2012-10-05.