Shikhara means ‘peak’ (like peak of a mountain) or the top most part of any building or body.
While building monuments the kings or emperors would always make prominent Shikhars either in the form of a dome (top most roof in a semicircular form) or some other elaborate structures.
The Rajarajeshvara temple at Thanjavur had the tallest shikhara amongst temples of its time. It was not easy to construct it as there were no cranes in those days and the 90 tone stone for the top of the shikhara was too heavy to lift manually. It was built using an inclined path to the top of the temple.
