A mandapa is a pillared hall, sometimes fully enclosed and sometimes open on one or more sides, that precedes the garbhagriha in a Hindu temple and provides space for the congregation to gather, wait and take part in ritual activity that does not require direct proximity to the deity's image. Structurally, a mandapa is defined by its columns, typically arranged in a grid and often heavily carved with figural and decorative relief, supporting a flat or corbelled ceiling that can rise to considerable height and elaboration in major temple complexes.
Larger temples commonly string together a sequence of mandapas leading from the outer entrance toward the sanctum, each dedicated to a specific use, such as an assembly hall for the general congregation, a dance hall for ritual performance, or an offering hall where food and other gifts are prepared before presentation to the deity, so a visitor moving through the temple passes through a graduated sequence of increasingly restricted spaces before reaching the antarala and the garbhagriha itself. During major festivals the mandapa, rather than the sanctum, is usually where the largest crowds gather, since it is here, not inside the garbhagriha, that most public ritual, teaching and communal worship actually takes place.