A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive stone or rock, such as some mountains. For instance, Savandurga mountain is a monolith mountain in India. Erosion usually exposes the geological formations, which are often made of very hard and solid igneous or metamorphic rock. Some monoliths are volcanic plugs, solidified lava filling the vent of an extinct volcano.
In architecture, the term has considerable overlap with megalith, which is normally used for prehistory, and may be used in the contexts of rock-cut architecture that remains attached to solid rock, as in monolithic church, or for exceptionally large stones such as obelisks, statues, monolithic columns or large architraves, that may have been moved a considerable distance after quarrying. It may also be used of large glacial erratics moved by natural forces.
The word derives, via the Latin monolithus, from the Ancient Greek word μονόλιθος (), from μόνος () meaning "one" or "single" and λίθος () meaning "stone".
Large, well-known monoliths include:
Aso Rock, Nigeria
Ben Amera, Mauritania
Brandberg Mountain, Namibia
Sibebe, Eswatini
Zuma Rock, Nigeria
Mount Lubiri, Angola
Mount Poi, Kenya
Great Sphinx of Giza
Scullin monolith
Batu Caves, Selangor, Malaysia
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Bellary Fort, Bellary, India
Bhongir, Telangana, India
Madhugiri Betta, Karnataka, India
Kailasa temple, Ellora. Maharashtra, India
Namakkal Fort Namakkal , Tamilnadu India,
Mount Kelam, Indonesia
Mount Pico de Loro, Philippines
Mount Pulumbato, Philippines
Sangla Hill, Pakistan
Savandurga, Karnataka, India
Sigiriya, Sri Lanka
Yana, Karnataka, India
Gilbert Hill, Mumbai, India
Rockfort, Trichy, India
The Tsunami Penile Monument, Malé, Maldives
Ekasila, Warangal, India
Bald Rock, near Tenterfield, New South Wales
Mount Augustus (Burringurrah), Western Australia (NOTE: this is not actually monolith as popularly claimed, but rather a monocline)
Mount Coolum, Queensland
Mount Wudinna, South Australia
Pine Mountain, Victoria
Uluru, Northern Territory
Kalamos, Anafi, Greece
Katskhi pillar, Georgia
Levski G.