Shikhara (IAST: ), a Sanskrit word translating literally to "mountain peak", refers to the rising tower in the Hindu temple architecture of North India, and also often used in Jain temples. A shikhara over the garbhagriha chamber where the presiding deity is enshrined is the most prominent and visible part of a Hindu temple of North India. In South India, the equivalent term is vimana; unlike the shikhara, this refers to the whole building, including the sanctum beneath. In the south, shikhara is a term for the top stage of the vimana only, which is usually a dome capped with a finial; this article is concerned with the northern form. The southern vimana is not to be confused with the elaborate gateway-towers of south Indian temples, called gopuram, which are often taller and more prominent features in large temples. Forms Shikhara can be classified into three main forms: Latina. The shikhara has four faces, which may include projections or ratha within each face. All the elements run smoothly up the face in a curve. The most common. They are also sometimes called "homogeneous" shikhara, as opposed to the next two types, which may be called "heterogeneous". Sekhari. The latina shape has added engaged (attached) sub-spires or spirelets called urushringa echoing the main shape. These may run up most of the face. There may be more than one size of these, sometimes called secondary and tertiary. Tertiary spirelets are typically near the ends of the face or on the corners. Bhumija. The tower has miniature spires, in horizontal and vertical rows, all the way to the top, creating a grid-like effect on each face. The tower is generally less strongly vertical in overall shape, often approaching a pyramidal shape. Mainly found in the northern Deccan and West India. History The early history of the Hindu shikhara is unclear, but the Buddhist Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya has a straight-sided shikhara tower over 55 metres (180 feet) high, with an amalaka near the top. The current structure dates from the Gupta Empire, in the 5th–6th century CE. When the temple acquired its shikhara tower, today considered more characteristic of Hindu temples, is uncertain. However the current structure of the Mahabodhi Temple may represent a restoration of earlier work of the 2nd or 3rd century CE. Ernest Havell traced the origin of shikhara to Ancient Mesopotamia and referred to the royal fortress palaces