Anamalaka (Sanskrit:आमलक), is a segmented or notched stone disk, usually with ridges on the rim, that sits on the top of aHindu temple'sshikhara or main tower. According to one interpretation, the amalaka represents a lotus, and thus the symbolic seat for the deity below. Another interpretation is that it symbolizes the sun, and is thus the gateway to the heavenly world.^[1]

The name and, according to some sources the shape, of the amalaka comes from the fruit ofPhyllanthus emblica (orMirobalanus embilica),^[2] the Indiangooseberry, or myrobolan fig tree. This is calledāmalaki inSanskrit, and the fruit has a slightly segmented shape, though this is much less marked than in the architectural shape.^[3]

The amalaka itself is crowned with akalasam or finial,^[4] from which a temple banner is often hung.

The shape first appears (or survives) as an element in the capitals of columns around the time ofAshoka in the 3rd century BCE,^[5] recurring in some capitals of the 1st century CE. In some of these, as at the Great Chaitya at theKarla Caves, and theverandahs to Caves 3, 10 and 17 at thePandavleni Caves, the amalaka is "boxed" with a rectangular framework cage.^[6]

The oldest representation of an Amalaka as the base for the kalasha is seen in a door jamb at theDahshavatara temple atDeogarh, dated to about 500 AD.^[7] Amalakas appear to have been common at the top of shikhara by theGupta period, though no originals remain in place. They were to remain standard in most of India, in the Nagara andKalinga architecture styles of the west and east respectively, but not in theDravidian architecture ofSouth India.^[8] Some early temples in theDeccan, such as the 7th-century Lakshamana temple in brick atSirpur, have amalakas at the corners of some level of the shikhara (but not, as it survives, at the top in the usual way).^[9]

Like other parts ofHindu temple architecture, there is a large body of symbolic and mystical interpretation around the amalaka. It is seen as a ring gripping and embracing a notional pillar that rises from the maincult image of the deity below it in the sanctum, and reaches up to heaven through the top of the temple.^[10]

• 
  Detached amalaka stone of theDurga Temple, Aihole, 7th century
• 
  "Boxed" amalakas in the capitals outside Cave 17,Pandavleni Caves, 2nd-3rd century CE
• 
  "Boxed" amalakas in the capitals,Bedse Caves
• 
  Corner amalakas at the 7th-century Lakshamana temple in brick atSirpur
• 
  7-12th century temples atJageshwar,Uttarakhand. In some of them the amalakas are boxed to hold a roof.
• 
  Early, rounded, amalaka, with squared amalakas at the corners below, 8th century. Galaganatha Temple,Pattadakal,Karnataka

• Harle, J.C.,The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent, 2nd edn. 1994, Yale University Press Pelican History of Art,ISBN 0300062176
• Kramrisch, Stella,The Hindu Temple, Volume 2, 1996 (originally 1946),ISBN 8120802225, 9788120802223,google books

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