Gopuram

{{short description|Monumental gateway tower to Hindu temple complexes}} {{italic title}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}} {{Use Indian English|date=February 2017}}

{{Multiple image | total_width=310 | header={{large|Gopuram}} | perrow=2/2 | image1=Ranganathaswamy_temple_tiruchirappalli.jpg | image2=Murdeshwar temple gopuram.jpg | image3=Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple Thiruvananthapuram, kerala.jpg | image4=Tirumala 090615.jpg | image5=Nallur_Kandasamy_front_entrance.jpg | image6=Angkor_Wat_Tempel_34.jpg

| footer=Gopurams from various temples; '''Left to right''':<br />1. Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam<br />2. Murudeshwar Temple<br />3. Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Thiruvananthapuram<br />4. Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala<br />5. Nallur Kandaswamy Temple<br />6. Angkor Wat }}

A '''gopuram''' or '''gopura''' is a monumental entrance tower, usually ornate, at the entrance of a Hindu temple, in the Dravidian architecture of South India, and Sri Lanka. In temples in other parts of India, they might be present but are more modest, while they are often the highest parts of the temple in the south. They also appear in architecture outside India such as the Khmer architecture in South East Asia.

The gopurams often function as gateways to the temple complex. They might be multi-storeyed and the higher levels typically repeat the lower level features on a rhythmic diminishing scale. They may consist of various sculptures and ornamentation. They are topped by one or more ''kalasams'', which are a type of bulbous metal or stone finials. The gopurams are designed and constructed as per rules given in the texts of Vaastu Shastra.

Ancient and early medieval temples feature smaller gopurams, while they became a prominent feature of the Hindu temple architecture since the later Middle Age. The gopuram's origins can be traced back to the Pallavas. As temples were expanded between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries CE, during the reign of the Pandyas, Vijayanagara, and Nayakas, larger gopurams were built along the boundary walls.

The tallest gopuras are of the Murdeshwara temple, at {{cvt|249|ft}}, completed in 2008,<ref>[http://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay.aspx?newsID=45696 "Murudeshwar Temple Now Tallest Gopuram in Asia", April 2008]</ref> and the rajagopuram of the Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam at {{cvt|239.5|ft}}, completed in 1987.<ref>[https://srirangam.org/towers/ "Towers" on temple website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221221175423/https://srirangam.org/towers/ |date=21 December 2022 }}; [http://tamilwebworld.in/tallest-temple-tamil-nadu-odisha/ Tamilwebworld]</ref>

==Etymology== In Tamil language, gopuram is a derivation is from two words: கோ (kō) and புறம் (puram) meaning 'king' and 'exterior' respectively.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sellby |first1=Martha A. |title=Tamil geographies: cultural constructions of space and place in South India |year=2008 |publisher=SUNY Press |author2=Indira Viswanathan Peterson}}</ref> During the Sangam period, it was known as ஓங்கு நிலை வாயில் (ōnggu nilai vāyil) meaning 'imperishable gateway'.<ref>{{cite book|last=S. Sundararajan|title=Ancient Tamil country: its social and economic structure|year=1991|publisher=Navrang}}</ref>

In Telugu, the word is derived from కోపు (Kōpu) and అరం (Araṁ) meaning "top" and "to exist".<ref>{{cite book|author=Vaachaspathy|url=https://archive.org/details/bangaru-nanelu|title=Bangaru Nanelu|date=1 June 2020}}</ref>

An alternative derivation is from Sanskrit, where the word emerged from a combination of ''go'' ({{langx|sa|गो}}) meaning 'city', and ''puram'' ({{langx|sa|पुरम्}}) meaning ' town' or 'settlement'.<ref>{{cite book |author = {{nobr|Lienhard S.}}, {{nobr|von Hinèuber O.}} |title = Kleine Schriften: Supplement |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=QUYLAQAAMAAJ |publisher = Harrassowitz Verlag |year = 2007 |pages = 414 |language = fr |isbn = 978-3-447-05619-9}}</ref>

==History== {{multiple image | align = right | image1 = 1834 sketch of elements in Hindu temple architecture, single storey gopura.jpg | width1 = 110 | alt1 = | caption1 = | image2 = 1834 sketch of elements in Hindu temple architecture, two storey gopura.jpg | width2 = 102 | alt2 = | caption2 = | footer = A gopuram may have multiple storeys. Left: Single storey; Right: Two stories }} The gopuram's origins can be traced back to the Pallavas who built the group of monuments in Mahabalipuram and Kanchipuram.<ref name="UNC">{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/249|title=Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram|publisher=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|access-date=3 April 2022|archive-date=2 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202145914/http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/249|url-status=live}}</ref> The Cholas later expanded the same, as evident from the 11th century CE Brihadeeswarar Temple in Thanjavur, marking a crucial step forward with two multi-storey gopurams from that period, much larger than any earlier ones, though much smaller than the ''vimana'' above the ''garbagriha'' (sanctum) of the temple.<ref>{{citation|author=S.R. Balasubrahmanyam|title=Middle Chola Temples|publisher=Thomson Press|year=1975|isbn=978-9-0602-3607-9|pages=16–29}}</ref> By the Pandya rule in twelfth century, these gateways became a dominant feature of a temple's outer appearance.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=George|title=The Hindu Temple|publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=1988|location=Chicago|pages= 151&ndash;153|isbn=978-0-2265-3230-1}}</ref> The gopurams of the Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram are early examples of large gopurams that were constructed in the mid-13th century but completed over a longer period.<ref>{{cite book|last=Harle |first=J.C. |title=The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent |edition=2 |year=1994 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=0300062176 |pages=320-325}}</ref> As temples were expanded between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries CE, during the reign of the Vijayanagara, and Nayakas, larger gopurams were built along the boundary walls.<ref name="Mitchell">{{cite book| last = Michell | first =George| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=ajgImLs62gwC | title = The Hindu Temple| publisher =University of Chicago Press| year =1988| location =Chicago| pages = 151&ndash;153| isbn = 0-226-53230-5}}</ref><ref name="Ching2">{{cite book| first= Francis D.K.| last= Ching| year= 2007| title= A Global History of Architecture| publisher=John Wiley and Sons | location= New York| isbn= 978-0-471-26892-5| page= [https://archive.org/details/globalhistoryofa0000chin/page/762 762]| display-authors= etal| url= https://archive.org/details/globalhistoryofa0000chin/page/762}}</ref><ref name="Brit"/> While gopurams are generally present atop the gateways in Hindu temples, it became a dominant feature of a temple's outer appearance in the later years, it eventually overshadowed the vimana and the inner sanctum which became obscured from view by the gopuram's colossal size and the surrounding courtyards.<ref name="Mitchell" /><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Neela|first1=N.|last2=Ambrosia|first2=G.|title=Vimana architecture under the Cholas|journal=Shanlax International Journal of Arts, Science & Humanities|date=April 2016|volume=3|issue=4|page=57|url=https://www.shanlax.com/wp-content/uploads/SIJ_ASH_V3_N4_008.pdf|access-date=5 July 2019|issn=2321-788X}}</ref>

==Architecture== [[File:Singapore Tempel Sri Mariammam Gopuram 6.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Closeup showing bronze kalashas (finial) and kirtimukha]]

The gopurams are designed and constructed as per rules given in the texts of Vaastu Shastra.<ref name="Ananth">{{cite book |last1=Ananth |first1=Sashikala |title=Penguin Guide to Vaastu: The Classical Indian Science of Architecture and Design |date=1 January 2000 |publisher=Penguin Publishing |location=Mumbai |isbn=014027863X |edition=2 }}</ref> It is usually a tapering oblong 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.<ref name="Mitchell"/> Usually the tower is topped with a barrel vaulted roof with a finial.<ref name="Ching">{{cite book| first=Francis D.K.| last= Ching| year= 1995| title= A Visual Dictionary of Architecture| publisher=John Wiley and Sons| location=New York| isbn= 0-471-28451-3| page= 253}}</ref> They are exquisitely decorated with sculpture and carvings and painted with a variety of themes and scenes derived from the Hindu mythology, particularly those associated with the presiding deity of the temple where the gopuram is located.<ref name="Brit">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9037402/gopura|title=Gopura|work=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=1 June 2008}}</ref>

The gopurams often function as gateways to the temple complex, and a temple may have multiple gopurams atop the entrances 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.<ref name="Ching2"/><ref name="Mitchell" />

==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

==References== {{reflist}}

== Further reading == * {{cite book|last=Dallapiccola|first=Anna L.|title=Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend|year=2002|publisher=Thames & Hudson|location=London|isbn=0-500-51088-1|title-link=Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend}}

==External links== {{wiktionary}} {{commons category|Gopurams}}

Category:Hindu temple architecture Category:Types of gates Category:Hindu temples Category:Hindu architecture