gopuram

(noun)

A monumental tower, usually ornate, at the entrance of a temple, especially in Southern India.

Related Terms

  • hippogryphs
  • Vijayanagar Empire
  • mandapa
  • Dravidian
  • foliated
  • embossed

(noun)

A monumental tower, usually ornate, at the entrance of any temple, especially in Southern India. 

Related Terms

  • hippogryphs
  • Vijayanagar Empire
  • mandapa
  • Dravidian
  • foliated
  • embossed

Examples of gopuram in the following topics:

  • Nayak Architecture

    • Among the main characteristics are the long corridors; the carved hundred-pillared and thousand-pillared mandapas (outdoor temple halls or porches); and the high, multi-storied gopurams (towers adorning the entrance of a temple), richly decorated with brightly-painted stone and stucco statues of animals, gods, and demons.
    • The temple has 10 ornate gopurams and a hall with 985 pillars, each of which is a sculpture in the Dravidian style.
    • Gopurams from the Nayak Period are adorned with brightly painted stucco statues of gods and goddesses, demons, and animals, both real and mythical.
  • Sculpture in the Vijayanagar Empire

    • Large life-size figures of men, women, gods, and goddesses adorn the gopuram of many Vijayagara temples.
  • Architecture of Hindu Temples

    • In the southern Dravidian style, the tower or gopuram consists of progressive smaller stories of pavilions.
  • Southern Style Temples in Southeast Asia

    • The tower (gopuram) of the Kapaleeswarar Temple, a typical South Indian temple complex in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
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