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A ''gopuram'' or ''gopura'' ( Tamil: கோபுரம், Telugu: గోపురం,
Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...
: ಗೋಪುರ,
Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
: ഗോപുരം) is a monumental entrance tower, usually ornate, at the entrance of a
Hindu temple A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...
, in the South Indian architecture of the
southern India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...
n states of
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
,
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
,
Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
,
Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
, and
Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...
, and
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. In other areas of India they are much more modest, while in Southern Indian temples they are very often by far the highest part of the temple. Ancient and early medieval temples feature smaller ''gopuram'', while in later temples they are a prominent feature of
Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
Dravidian style; in many cases the temple compound was expanded and new larger gopuram built along the new boundary. They are topped by the '' kalasam'', a bulbous stone
finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...
. They function as gateways through the walls that surround the temple complex. Another towering structure located towards the center of the temple is the Vimanam. Both of them are designed and constructed as per rules given in the texts of Vaastu shastra. The gopuram's origins can be traced back to early structures of the
Pallava The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of South India, the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The Pallavas played a crucial role in shaping in particular southern Indian history and heritage. The ...
kings, and relate to the central
shikhara ''Shikhara'' (IAST: '), a Sanskrit word translating literally to "mountain peak", refers to the rising tower in the Hindu temple architecture of North India, and also often used in Jain temples. A ''shikhara'' over the ''garbhagriha'' chamber ...
towers of north India and Gavaksha with gable-roof. Between the twelfth and sixteenth century, during the
Pandya The Pandya dynasty (), also referred to as the Pandyas of Madurai, was an ancient Tamil dynasty of South India, and among the four great kingdoms of Tamilakam, the other three being the Pallavas, the Cholas and the Cheras. Existing sinc ...
, Nayaka and
Vijayanagara Vijayanagara () is a city located in Vijayanagara district of Karnataka state in India.Vijayanagara
era when Hindu temples increasingly became a hub of the urban life, these gateways became a dominant feature of a temple's outer appearance, eventually overshadowing the inner sanctuary which became obscured from view by the gopuram's colossal size and courtyards. It also dominated the inner sanctum in amount of ornamentation. Often a shrine has more than one gopuram. They also appear in architecture outside India, especially Khmer architecture, as at
Angkor Wat Angkor Wat (; , "City/Capital of Wat, Temples") is a Buddhism and Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhist temple complex in Cambodia. Located on a site measuring within the ancient Khmer Empire, Khmer capital city of Angkor, it was originally constructed ...
. A large Dravidian-style temple, or koil, may have multiple gopurams as the openings into successively smaller walled enclosures around the main shrine, with the largest generally at the outer edges. The temple compound is typically square or rectangular with at least the outermost wall having gopuras, often from the four cardinal directions. The multiple storeys of a gopuram typically repeat the lower level features on a rhythmic diminishing scale. The inner sanctum and its towering roof (the central deity's shrine) is also called the '' Vimanam'', although in the south it is typically smaller than the gopurams in large temples.


Etymology

The Tamil derivation is from the two words: கோ (kō) and புறம் (puram) meaning 'king' and 'exterior' respectively. It originates from the
Sangam age The Sangam literature ( Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், ''caṅka ilakkiyam''), historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones' ( Tamil: சான்றோர் செய்யுள், ''Cāṉṟōr ceyyuḷ''), connote ...
when it was known as ஓங்கு நிலை வாயில் (ōnggu nilai vāyil) meaning 'imperishable gateway'. The Telugu derivation is from the two words : కోపు (Kōpu) and అరం (Araṁ) meaning "Top" and "to exist". An alternative derivation is from the
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
word ''gopuram'', which can be broken down to ''go'' (), which means either 'a city' or 'a cow', and ''
puram ''Puram'' (, ''Lit.'' exterior) is one of two genres of Classical Tamil poetry. The concept of the lifestyle of human beings falls in two categories: personal and public. The genre dealing with poems about love affairs is called '' Akam'' (அ� ...
'' (), 'a town', or 'a settlement'. Dr. Sthapati explains the meaning of the words gopuram and vimanam thus. Vimanam means measure, indicating the number of measures made in the construction and design of that structure. Gopuram consist of two words, gawa and puram, meaning the place from which all the energy that exists in all living beings comes inside.


Architecture

A gopuram is usually a tapering
oblong An oblong is an object longer than it is wide, especially a non-square rectangle. Oblong may also refer to: Places * Oblong, Illinois, a village in the United States * Oblong Township, Crawford County, Illinois, United States * A strip of land ...
in form with ground-level wooden doors, often richly decorated, providing access. Above is the tapering or "battered" gopuram, divided into many storeys ('' talas''), which diminish in size as the gopuram tower narrows. Usually the tower is topped with a
barrel vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...
ed roof with a finial. The form began rather modestly in the 10th century, as at
Shore Temple The Shore Temple (c. 725 AD) is a complex of temples and shrines that overlooks the shore of the Bay of Bengal. It is located in Mahabalipuram, about south of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. It is a structural temple, built with blocks of gran ...
,
Mamallapuram Mamallapuram (also known as Mahabalipuram), is a town in Chengalpattu district in the southeastern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, best known for the UNESCO World Heritage Site of 7th- and 8th-century Hindu Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram. It ...
, with the 11th century Brihadeeswarar Temple in
Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also known as Thanjai, previously known as Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 12th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of southern Indian religion, art ...
marking a crucial step forward with two multi-storey gopurams from that period, much larger than any earlier ones, though much smaller than the main tower (vimanam) of the temple. The four gopurams of the Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram are important early examples, begun in the mid-13th century but completed over a longer period. Gopurams are exquisitely decorated with sculpture and carvings and painted with a variety of themes derived from the
Hindu mythology Hindu mythology refers to the collection of myths associated with Hinduism, derived from various Hindu texts and traditions. These myths are found in sacred texts such as the Vedas, the Itihasas (the ''Mahabharata'' and the ''Ramayan ...
, particularly those associated with the presiding
deity A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...
of the temple where the gopuram is located. The two tallest gopuras are both modern, at least in part. The Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam,
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
, has 21 '' gopurams'' (tower gateways), including the towering ''Rajagopuram'' (shrine of the main gateway), which is claimed as the tallest temple tower in Asia. The -tall 13-tiered ''Rajagopuram'' was completed in 1987 and dominates the landscape for kilometers around, while the remaining 20 gopurams were built between the 14th and 17th centuries. Competing for the title of "tallest" is the twenty storey gopura at the modern Murdeshwar Temple, which, unusually, is provided with a lift."Murudeshwar Temple Now Tallest Gopuram in Asia", April 2008
/ref> File:Aerial view of Sri Rangam temple near Tiruchirapalli 1.jpg, Aerial view of the Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam in Srirangam File:Ulagalantha perumal.j.jpg, Ulagalantha Perumal Temple, Tirukoyilur File:Varadaraja Perumal Temple Kanchipuram (2).jpg, Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram File:Gopura of the Mayuranathaswamy Temple.jpg, Gopura of the Mayuranathaswamy Temple,
Mayiladuthurai Mayiladuthurai (formerly known as Mayavaram or Mayuram) is a :ta:சிறப்பு நிலை நகராட்சிகள், Special Grade Municipality and district headquarters of Mayiladuthurai district in Tamil Nadu, India. The town ...
File:Rajagopalaswamy temple10.JPG, Rajagopalaswamy Temple, Mannargudi File:Thiruvannamalai, Arunachalesvara Temple, Annamalaiyar Temple, Panoramic view, India.jpg, Annamalaiyar Temple,
Thiruvannamalai Tiruvannamalai (Tamil language, Tamil: ''Tiruvaṇṇāmalai'' International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: , otherwise spelt ''Thiruvannamalai''; ''Trinomali'' or ''Trinomalee'' on British records) is a city and the administrative headquarters of ...
File:Murdeshwar temple gopuram.jpg, Murdeshwar File:Srirangam Temple Gopuram (767010404).jpg, Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam File:Andal Temple.jpg,
Srivilliputhur Srivilliputhur is a municipality in Virudhunagar district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. As of 2011, the town had a population of 75,396. The most important landmark of Thiruvilliputhur is 11-tiered tower st ...
File:Pariyur.jpg, Pariyur File:Thiruchendur Temple Rajagopuram.JPG, Tiruchendur File:Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple Thiruvananthapuram, kerala.jpg, Shree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Thiruvananthapuram File:West Tower.jpg, Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram File:Yathothkari (9).jpg, Yathothkari Perumal Temple, Kancheepuram File:Karnataka Hampi IMG 0730.jpg, Hampi File:Tirumala temple.JPG, Tirumala File:Sri Mahamariamman temple-Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.jpg,
Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...
File:Simhachalam Gopuram Night.jpg,
Simhachalam Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha temple, Simhachalam, is a Hindu temple situated on the Simhachalam Hill Range,which is 300 metres above the sea level in the city of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is dedicated to Vishnu, Lord Vishnu, who ...
File:Aathikoneswaram.jpg, Athi Koneswaram File:Koodalazhagar (13).jpg, Koodal Azhagar temple,
Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...
File:Ramaswamy3.j.jpg, Ayothiapattinam, Ramaswamy temple File:Gopuram of Mayuranathaswami Temple.jpg, Mayuranathaswami Temple File:Subhramanya Swamy Temple in Biccavole.jpg, Biccavolu File:Chebrolu Temple.jpg, Chebrolu File:Besakih02.jpg, Besakih,
Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...
File:Betarayaswamy temple.jpg, Betrayaswamy Temple


See also

* List of tallest Gopurams * Candi bentar, split gateways for Indonesian Hindu temples * Paduraksa, greater gateways to inner and more sacred areas in Indonesian Hindu temples *
Pagoda A pagoda is a tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist, but some ...


Notes


References

* *Harle, J.C., ''The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent'', 2nd edn. 1994, Yale University Press Pelican History of Art,


External links

{{commons category, Gopurams Hindu temple architecture Types of gates Hindu temples Hindu architecture ta:கோபுரம்