Gopuram in the context of "Hindu temple architecture"

Brihadisvara Temple, called Rajarajesvaram (lit. 'Lord of Rajaraja') by its builder, and known locally as Thanjai Periya Kovil (lit. 'Thanjavur Big Temple') and Peruvudaiyar Kovil (lit. 'Temple of the great lord'), is a Shaivite Hindu temple built in a Chola architectural style located on the south bank of the Cauvery river in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the largest Hindu temples and an exemplar of Tamil architecture. It is also called Dakshina Meru (Meru of the South). Built by Chola emperor Rajaraja I between 1003 and 1010 CE, the temple is a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Great Living Chola Temples", along with the Chola-era Gangaikonda Cholapuram temple and Airavatesvara temple, which are about 70 kilometres (43 mi) and 40 kilometres (25 mi) to its northeast respectively.

The original monuments of this 11th-century temple were built around a moat. It included gopura, the main temple, its massive tower, inscriptions, frescoes, and sculptures predominantly related to Shaivism, but also of Vaishnavism and Shaktism. The temple was damaged in its history and some artwork is now missing. Additional mandapam and monuments were added in the centuries that followed. The temple now stands amidst fortified walls that were added after the 16th century.

Sri Vidhya Rajagopalaswamy temple is a Vaishnava shrine located in the town of Mannargudi, Tamil Nadu, India. The presiding deity is Rajagopalaswamy, a form of Krishna and his consort Lakshmi, who is worshipped as Sri Sengamala Thayar. The temple is spread over an area of 9.3 ha (23 acres) and is an important Vaishnava shrines in India. The temple is called Champakaranya Kshetram, Dakshina Dwaraka (Southern Dvaraka) along with Guruvayoor by Hindus, Vanduvaraapathi and Vasudevapuri. It is considered first among the 108 Abhimana Kshethram of Vaishnavate tradition.

Originally this ancient temple was first constructed by Kulothunga Chola I at 10th century and Chola Kings Rajaraja Chola III, Rajendra Chola III and later expanded by Thanjavur Nayaks during the 16th century. The temple has three inscriptions from the period and also mention in the religious texts. A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines and seven of its nine bodies of water. The wall is celebrated in Tamil as “Mannargudi Mathil Alagu”, meaning "the beauty of the walls," highlighting its grandeur and cultural significance. The temple has a 47 m (154 ft) rajagopuram, the temple's gateway tower. The temple is associated with nine theerthams (sacred water bodies): Haridranadhi, Durvasa Theertham (also called Gajendra Theertham), Thirupparkadal, Gopika Theertham (also known as Gopralaya Theertham), Rukmini Theertham, Sanghu Theertham, Chakkra Theertham, Agnikunda Theertham, and Krishna Theertham, along with the Pambani River. Among them, Haridra Nadhi, the temple tank associated with the temple is outside the temple complex and is considered one of the largest temple tanks in India.

Dravidian architecture, or the Southern Indian temple style, is an architectural idiom in Hindu temple architecture that emerged from Southern India, reaching its final form by the sixteenth century.

In contrast with North Indian temple styles, Dravidian architecture uses shorter and more pyramidal towers, called vimana, over the garbhagriha or sanctuary, where the north has taller towers, usually curving inwards as they rise, called shikharas. Larger modern Dravidian style temples, however, include one or more high gopura or gatehouse entrances to the compound as their dominating feature; large temples have several dwarfing the vimana, although these are a much more recent development. There are numerous other distinct features, such as the dvarapalakas – twin guardians at the main entrance and the inner sanctum of the temple and goshtams – deities carved in niches on the outer side walls of the garbhagriha.

Shikhara (Sanskrit: शिखर, IAST: Śikhara), 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 where the presiding deity is enshrined is the most prominent and visible part of a Hindu temple of North India.

In South India, the equivalent term is vimana; unlike the shikhara, this refers to the whole building, including the sanctum beneath. In the south, shikhara is a term for the top stage of the vimana only, which is usually a dome capped with a finial; this article is concerned with the northern form. The southern vimana is not to be confused with the elaborate gateway-towers of south Indian temples, called gopuram, which are often taller and more prominent features in large temples.

The Brihadisvara Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva in Gangaikonda Cholapuram, Jayankondam, in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Completed in 1035 CE by Rajendra Chola I as a part of his new capital, this Chola dynasty era temple is similar in design, and has a similar name, as the older 11th century, Brihadeeswarar Temple about 70 kilometres (43 mi) to the southwest in Thanjavur. The Gangaikonda Cholapuram Temple is smaller yet more refined than the Thanjavur Temple. Both are among the largest Shiva temples in South India and examples of Dravidian style temples. The temple is also referred to in texts as Gangaikonda Cholapuram Temple or Gangaikondacholeeswaram Temple

The main temple dedicated to Shiva is based on a square plan, but it displays other Hindu deities such as Vishnu, Durga, Surya, Harihara, Ardhanarishvara, and others. It opens to the sunrise and its sanctum, as well as the mandapas, are aligned on an east–west axis. In addition to the main shrine, the temple complex has a number of smaller shrines, gopura, and other monuments, with some partially ruined or restored in later centuries. The temple is famed for its bronze sculptures, artwork on its walls, the depiction of Nandi and the scale of its tower. As well as its notability for having been built by Rajendra I, the temple is also noteworthy for its numerous inscriptions, although none of them are his.

The Padmanabhaswamy Temple (Malayalam: [pɐd̪mɐnaːbʰɐswaːmi]) is a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the state of Kerala, India. It is one of the 108 Divya Desams that are considered among the most sacred abodes of Vishnu in the Sri Vaishnava tradition. Adi Shankara had composed sacred hymns on AnanthaPadmanabha and it is an important holy site for Smartha Tradition. The name of the city it stands on, Thiruvananthapuram, in Malayalam and Tamil translates to "The City of Ananta" (Ananta being a form of Vishnu). The temple is built in an intricate fusion of the Kerala style and the Dravidian style of architecture, featuring high walls, and a 16th-century gopuram. While as per some traditions the Ananthapura Temple in Kumbla in Kerala's Kasaragod district is considered as the original spiritual seat of the deity ("Mulasthanam"), architecturally to some extent, the temple is a replica of the Adikesava Perumal Temple in Thiruvattar in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu.

The principal deity is Padmanabhaswamy (Sanskrit: पद्मनाभस्वामि, IAST: Padmanābhasvāmi), a form of Vishnu enshrined in the "Anantashayana" posture, engaged in eternal yogic sleep on his serpent mount named Shesha. Padmanabhaswamy is the tutelary deity of the Travancore royal family. The titular Maharaja of Travancore, Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma, is the current trustee of the temple.

Koodal Aḻagar Temple or "Koodal Allhagar Temple" in Madurai, a city in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is a temple dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the Naalayira Divya Prabandham, the early medieval Tamil canon of the Alvar saints from the 6th–9th centuries CE. It is one among the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Viyooga Sundarrajan, and his consort Lakshmi as Mathuravalli.

A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines. The temple has a five-tiered rajagopuram, the gateway tower. The temple is originally believed to be built by the Pandyas, with later additions by the Vijayanagara empire and Madurai Nayaks kings who commissioned pillared halls and major shrines of the temple during the 16th century.

Srivaikuntanathan Perumal Temple (also called Srivaikuntam temple and Kallapiran temple) in Srivaikuntam, a town in Thoothukudi district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. It is located 22 km from Tirunelveli. Constructed in the Tamil style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, the early medieval Tamil canon of the Alvar saints from the 6th–9th centuries CE. It is one of the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Vaikunthanathar and his consort Lakshmi as Vaikunthavalli. The temple is also classified as a Nava Tirupati, the nine temples revered by Nammalvar located in the banks of Tamiraparani river. The temple is next only to Alwarthirunagari Temple in terms of importance among the nine Navatirupathi temple. The temple is one of the Navagraha temples in Vaishnavism, associated with Surya, the sun god.

A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines and two of its three bodies of water. The rajagopuram, the temple's gateway tower, is 110 ft (34 m) tall. Thiruvengadamudayan hall houses rare life size sculptures commissioned during the 16th century.