The Nagara and the Veshara are the other two evolved styles in medieval Hindu temple construction.
Southern India, notably the contemporary state of Tamil Nadu, is home to the Dravida style.
Unlike the Nagara style, which emphasizes an uninterrupted verticality culminating in a single high peak, the Dravida style emphasizes consecutive strata via a sequence of horizontal tiers.
Although older southern Indian temples, such as the Rajrajeshvar Temple in Tanjore, had one central tower, the emphasis moved in the twelfth century to the construction of walls surrounding the temple's complicated perimeters.
At the cardinal points of these walls were massive gopurams or central gates, which were generally the temple's largest constructions by a long shot.
The enclosed space within the temple complex was frequently huge, such as the estimated 500 acres of Shrirangam's temple, yet the majority of the architecture was just one level.
(However, the temple's major images would be surrounded by higher towers.) This diminished focus on soaring height was compensated in evolved specimens of the Dravida style by its great horizontal spread.
The Ranganathaswamy temple at Shrirangam and the Minakshi temple in Madurai are the outstanding specimens of this later form.
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