Meru tower

A Meru tower, or pelinggih meru, is the principal shrine of a Balinese temple. It is a wooden, pagoda-like structure with a masonry base, a wooden chamber, and multi-tiered thatched roofs. The height of Meru towers represents the Hindu Mount Meru. Meru towers are usually dedicated to either the highest gods of the Hindu pantheon, the local pantheon, or a deified person.

The Meru tower is the equivalent of the shikhara (north India) or vimana (South India) in Indian Hindu temple architecture. The Hindu tempels on the Indonesian island Java also had shikharas, but in the 14th century a transition started towards multi-tiered thatched roofs. The main temple of the Candi Panataran, the state temple complex of the kingdom of Majapahit, had a pagoda-like thatched structure, just as some other sanctuaries built both in Java and Bali in this period. Bali was part of Majapahit at the time. Many shikharas in Java collapsed because of the frequent earthquakes hitting this island. It was easier to restore a meru than a stone shikhara.

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