Gopuram

[4] The gopuram's origins can be traced back to early structures of the Pallava kings, and relate to the central shikhara towers of North India.

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.

[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.

[10][dead link‍] A gopuram is usually a tapering oblong in form with ground-level wooden doors, often richly decorated, providing access.

The four gopurams of the Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram are important early examples, begun in the mid-13th century but completed over a longer period.

[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.