Gopuram

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A gopuram or gopura (

southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, and Telangana,[1] and Sri Lanka
. 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

Vaastu shastra.[4]

The gopuram's origins can be traced back to early structures of the

Pandya, Nayaka and 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.[5] It also dominated the inner sanctum in amount of ornamentation. Often a shrine has more than one gopuram.[1] They also appear in architecture outside India, especially Khmer architecture, as at Angkor Wat
.

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.[5] 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

A gopura is a monumental gate, usually ornate with odd number of kalasa on top. It may have one or many storeys. Left: Single storey gopura; Right: Two storey gopura.

The

Sangam age when it was known as ஓங்கு நிலை வாயில் (ōnggu nilai vāyil) meaning 'imperishable gateway'.[7]

The Telugu derivation is from the two words : కోపు (Kōpu) and అరం (Araṁ) meaning "Top" and "to exist".[8]

An alternative derivation is from the

Sanskrit: पुरम्), 'a town', or 'a settlement'.[9]

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.[10]

Architecture

Detail in gopuram showing Vamana measuring earth and sky

A gopuram is usually a tapering

Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram are important early examples, begun in the mid-13th century but completed over a longer period.[11] Gopurams are exquisitely decorated with sculpture and carvings and painted with a variety of themes derived from the Hindu mythology, particularly those associated with the presiding deity of the temple where the gopuram is located.[citation needed
]

The two tallest gopuras are both modern, at least in part. The

gopurams (tower gateways), including the towering 239.5-foot (73.0 m) Rajagopuram (shrine of the main gateway), which is claimed as the tallest temple tower in Asia. The 73-metre (240 ft)-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.[12] Competing for the title of "tallest" is the twenty storey 249-foot (76 m) gopura at the modern Murdeshwar Temple, which, unusually, is provided with a lift.[13]

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

Notes

  1. ^ a b "gopura". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 20 January 2008.
  2. ISBN 978-0-471-26892-5
    .
  3. ISBN 0-471-28451-3
    .
  4. ISBN 014027863X
    .
  5. ^
    ISBN 0-226-53230-5
    .
  6. ^ Sellby, Martha A.; Indira Viswanathan Peterson (2008). Tamil geographies: cultural constructions of space and place in South India. SUNY Press.
  7. ^ S. Sundararajan (1991). Ancient Tamil country: its social and economic structure. Navrang.
  8. ^ Vaachaspathy (9 November 2020). Bangaru Nanelu.
  9. ISBN 9783447056199
    .
  10. ^ Sthapati, Dr. V. "Lecture at Brihadeeshwara temple (part 2)". You tube.
  11. ^ Harle, 320-325
  12. ^ "Towers" on temple website; Tamilwebworld
  13. ^ "Murudeshwar Temple Now Tallest Gopuram in Asia", April 2008

References

External links

Look up gopuram in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gopurams.
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