Vimana

(“vehicle”) A word with different specific
meanings in different contexts, a common feature in the Sanskrit language. It
can refer to the vehicles used by a
deity—either in a mythic sense, because
each of the deities has an animal considered to be his or her vehicle, or in a literal sense as the cart used to carry them
in procession, or to the human being
who “carries” them through becoming
possessed. In the context of architecture, the word vimana is used to refer to
that part of the temple that “carries” the
deity, that is, the sanctuary as a whole.