Vimana (architectural feature) in the context of "Shikhara"

Hindu temple architecture as the main form of Hindu architecture has many different styles, though the basic nature of the Hindu temple remains the same, with the essential feature an inner sanctum, the garbha griha or womb-chamber, where the primary Murti or the image of a deity is housed in a simple bare cell. For rituals and prayers, this chamber frequently has an open space that can be moved in a clockwise direction. There are frequently additional buildings and structures in the vicinity of this chamber, with the largest ones covering several acres. On the exterior, the garbhagriha is crowned by a tower-like shikhara, also called the vimana in the south. Gopuram gateways are elaborate in the south. These are topped with a finial called kalasha. The shrine building often includes an circumambulatory passage for parikrama, a mandapa congregation hall, and sometimes an antarala antechamber and porch between garbhagriha and mandapa. In addition to other small temples in the compound, there may be additional mandapas or buildings that are either connected or separate from the larger temples.

Hindu temple architecture reflects a synthesis of arts, the ideals of dharma, values, and the way of life cherished under Hinduism. The temple is a place for Tirtha—pilgrimage. All the cosmic elements that create and celebrate life in Hindu pantheon, are present in a Hindu temple—from fire to water, from images of nature to deities, from the feminine to the masculine, from kama to artha, from the fleeting sounds and incense smells to Purusha—the eternal nothingness yet universality—is part of a Hindu temple architecture. The form and meanings of architectural elements in a Hindu temple are designed to function as a place in which to create a link between man and the divine, to help his progress to spiritual knowledge and truth, his liberation it calls moksha.

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.

A gopuram or gopura (Kannada: ಗೋಪುರ, Malayalam: ഗോപുരം, Tamil: கோபுரம், Telugu: గోపురం) is a monumental entrance tower, usually ornate, at the entrance of a Hindu temple, in the South Indian architecture of the southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, 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 Hindu 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. 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.