APSARAS

apsaras, in hindu mythology, a female spirit of the clouds and waters. in the rig-veda there is one apsaras, wife of gandharva; in the later scriptures there are many apsaras who act as the handmaidens of indra and dance before his throne. they are able to change their form, and specially rule over the fortunes of gaming. one of their duties is to guide to paradise the heroes who fall in battle, whose wives they then become. they are distinguished as _daivika_ ("divine") or _laukika_ ("worldly"). apse (gr. [greek: apsis], a fastening, especially the felloe of a wheel; lat. _absis_), in architecture, a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault. the term is applied also to the termination to the choir, transept or aisle of any church which is either semicircular or polygonal in plan, whether vaulted or covered with a timber roof; a church is said to be "apsidal" when it terminates in an apse. the earliest example of an apse is found in the temple of mars ultor at rome (2 b.c.), and it formed afterwards the favourite feature terminating the rear of any temple, and one which gave importance to the statue of the deity to whom the temple was dedicated. its use by the romans was not confined to the temples, as it is found in the palaces on the palatine hill, the great thermae (baths) and other monuments. in the civil basilicas the apse was screened off by columns, and constituted the court of justice. in the ulpian (trajan's) basilica the apses at each end were of such great dimensions as to come better under the definition of hemicycles (q.v.). in these apses the floor was raised, and had an altar placed in the centre of its chord, where sacrifices were made prior to the sittings. the only other two roman basilicas in which the semicircular apse can still be traced are that commenced by maxentius and completed by constantine at rome and the basilica at trier (treves). in the earliest christian basilica, st peter's at rome, built 330 a.d., the apse, 57 ft. in diameter, raised above the confessio or crypt, was placed at the west end of the church. this orientation was originally followed in the churches of st paul and st lawrence (s. lorenzo fuori le mura), both outside the walls of rome, and is found in most of the churches at rome. on the other hand, in the byzantine church, the apse was built at the east end of the church. during the reign of justin the second (a.d. 565-574), owing to a change in the liturgy, two more apses were added, one on each side of the central apse. these in the greek church were provided not to hold altars but for ceremonial purposes. one of the earliest examples is found in the church of st nicholas at myra of the 6th century, and the basilica erected in the great court of the temple at baalbek shows the triple apse. the earliest example in rome is found in the church of sta maria in cosmedin (772-795), built probably by greek craftsmen, who had been exiled by the iconoclasts. other triapsal choirs are found in the cathedral of parenzo (542 a.d.), in st mark's, venice, in sta fosca and the duomo at torcello, and in numerous examples throughout italy and germany. in central syria there is one example only, at kalat seman, where the side apses were a later addition. there is one important distinction to be drawn between the byzantine and the latin apses; they are both semicircular internally, but externally the former are nearly always polygonal. it follows, therefore, that in those churches in italy where the apse is polygonal externally, it is a sign of direct byzantine influence. this is found in st mark's, venice; sta fosca, torcello; murano; nearly all the churches at ravenna; and in the crusaders' churches throughout syria. in the coptic church in egypt we find other characteristics; in the churches of the red and white monasteries, attributed to st helena, an unusual depth is given to the apse, in the walls of which niches are sunk; in the church of st john at antinoe there are no fewer than seven. similar niches are found in the apses of st mark's, venice, built in