Mount Meru in the context of "Angkor Wat"

Brihadisvara Temple, called Rajarajesvaram (lit. 'Lord of Rajaraja') by its builder, and known locally as Thanjai Periya Kovil (lit. 'Thanjavur Big Temple') and Peruvudaiyar Kovil (lit. 'Temple of the great lord'), is a Shaivite Hindu temple built in a Chola architectural style located on the south bank of the Cauvery river in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the largest Hindu temples and an exemplar of Tamil architecture. It is also called Dakshina Meru (Meru of the South). Built by Chola emperor Rajaraja I between 1003 and 1010 CE, the temple is a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Great Living Chola Temples", along with the Chola-era Gangaikonda Cholapuram temple and Airavatesvara temple, which are about 70 kilometres (43 mi) and 40 kilometres (25 mi) to its northeast respectively.

The original monuments of this 11th-century temple were built around a moat. It included gopura, the main temple, its massive tower, inscriptions, frescoes, and sculptures predominantly related to Shaivism, but also of Vaishnavism and Shaktism. The temple was damaged in its history and some artwork is now missing. Additional mandapam and monuments were added in the centuries that followed. The temple now stands amidst fortified walls that were added after the 16th century.

Dvipa (Sanskrit: द्वीप, lit. 'island', IAST: Dvīpa) is a term in Hindu cosmography. The Puranas describe a dvipa to be one of the seven islands or continents that are present on earth, each of them surrounded by an ocean. The same terminology is also used to refer to the seven regions of the cosmos.

In the geocentric model of Hinduism, the seven dvipas are present around Mount Meru, which is present at the centre of Jambudvipa, the term employed for the Indian subcontinent. Dvipa is also sometimes used to refer to the abodes of deities, such as Manidvipa.

Buddhist cosmology is the description of the shape and evolution of the Universe according to Buddhist scriptures and commentaries.

It consists of a temporal and a spatial cosmology. The temporal cosmology describes the timespan of the creation and dissolvement of alternate universes in different aeons. The spatial cosmology consists of a vertical cosmology, the various planes of beings, into which beings are reborn due to their merits and development; and a horizontal cosmology, the distribution of these world-systems into an infinite sheet of existential dimensions included in the cycle of samsara. The entire universe is said to be made up of five basic elements of Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space. Buddhist cosmology is also intwined with the belief of Karma. As a result, some ages are filled with prosperity and peace due to common goodness, whereas other eras are filled with suffering, dishonesty and short lifespans.

Sacred mountains are central to certain religions, and are usually the subjects of many legends. For many, the most symbolic aspect of a mountain is the peak because it is believed that it is closest to heaven or other religious realms. Many religions have traditions centered on sacred mountains, which either are or were considered holy (such as Mount Olympus in Greek mythology) or are related to famous events (like Mount Sinai in Judaism and descendant religions or Mount Kailash, Mount Meru in Hinduism). In some cases, the sacred mountain is purely mythical, like the Hara Berezaiti in Zoroastrianism. Mount Kailash is believed to be the abode of the deities Shiva and Parvati, and is considered sacred in four religions: Hinduism, Bon, Buddhism, and Jainism. Volcanoes, such as Mount Etna in Italy, were also considered sacred, Mount Etna being believed to have been the home of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and the forge.

Trikuta is a three-peaked mountain in Hindu mythology. It is one of the twenty mountains surrounding Maha Meru (Mount Meru) the home of Brahma. The height is said in the Bhagavata Purana to be 10,000 yojanas, and the three peaks are iron, silver and gold. The mountain is believed to be the second home of the divine goddess Vaishno Devi. She was created with the divine power of the mother Goddesses Tridevi to end evil; hence, the mountain is called Trikuta.

The East Baray (Khmer: បារាយណ៍ខាងកើត), or Yashodharatataka, is a now-dry baray, or artificial body of water, at Angkor, Cambodia, oriented east–west and located just east of the walled city Angkor Thom. It was built around the year 900 CE during the reign of King Yasovarman. Fed by the Siem Reap River flowing down from the Kulen Hills, it is the second-largest baray in the Angkor region (after the West Baray) and one of the largest handcut water reservoirs on Earth, measuring roughly 7.5 kilometers by 1830 m and holding over 55 million cubic meters of water. Stones bearing inscriptions that mark the construction of the baray have been found at all four of its corners. The labour and organization necessary for its construction were staggering: Its dikes contain roughly 8 million cubic meters of fill.

Scholars are divided on the purpose of this and other barays. By some theories, they held water for irrigation, but no inscription has been found mentioning such a function. Other theories say that barays served primarily a symbolic purpose in Khmer religious life, representing the seas of creation that surround Mount Meru, home of the Hindu gods.