Category:Mandapika

Mandapika is a Sanskrit term found in Hindu literature on architecture. It literally means "pandal, pavilion". It is one of the simplest forms of Hindu temple architecture, with a flat vedi-platform superstructure making them appear like a box. They are most common in central India, but also found wherever historic Hindu temples were built in South Asia and Southeast Asia. Beyond Sanskrit manuscripts, this architectural term is found in an inscription engraved in the oldest monolithic mandapika known: the 7th-century Shiva temple in Mahua (Shivpuri district). It calls the structure a "sila mandapika" (stone pandal).

Stone mandapikas may have their origin in rock-cut cave temples. Older non-monolithic stone mandapikas are known (pre-6th century), and mandapikas were likely built from wood and other perishable materials in ancient times (pre-Kushana era). They continued to be built in central India through about the 10th-century.

Mandapikas survive in two subtypes: no sikhara (tower) above a flat ceiling (very common), or a small decorative sikhara placed on top of the flat ceiling stone (uncommon). Some mandapikas have no mandapa (porch), others have an elaborate mandapa in front with profuse carvings. Mandapikas were particularly common in small villages and as one of the temple architectures in early Hindu monasteries.