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Assessing the Form of a Kerala Temple Gopuram Through Material and Construction

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Assessing the Form of a Kerala Temple Gopuram Through Material and Construction Cities’ Identity Through Architecture and Arts – Catalani et al. (Eds) © 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-1-138-05409-7 Entrance gateway of Kerala temples: Assessing the form of a Kerala temple gopuram through material and construction M. Yamuna Vijayan MARG Institute of Design and Architecture, Swarnabhoomi, Tamil Nadu, India ABSTRACT: Every style of building construction reflects a clearly distinctive principle that represents a particular culture and era. In India, the temple and its associated structures evolved with time and the most identifiable difference is in their structure. Specifically in Kerala, a southern state of India, temple architecture is different from that in neighbour- ing states due to the obvious reason of its geography and various other factors. Gopurams (entrance gateways) are the principal structure of any temple complex. This led to the inves- tigation of the difference in the form of a gopuram in terms of its material and construction. The topic demands a literature study of Dravidian and Kerala gopurams, followed by case studies of different types to support the investigation. In this research, the major reason behind the differences was found to lie in the geography of the state, which itself can be cat- egorised into three different regions within the state such as Malabar, Kochi and Travancore. In addition, an analysis is done on the proportions of the gopurams. This is done by taking into account the dimensions of the temple as well as the structural elements of the gopuram. The conclusion summarises the principles of planning, differences in form, and the scope for future studies. Keywords: Dravidian; Kerala; temple architecture; gopurams; proportions 1 INTRODUCTION Symbolically, the gopuram or the entrance to a temple represents the feet of a deity. A devo- tee bows at the feet of the Lord at the entrance as one steps into the temple and proceeds towards the sanctum. Compared with the gopurams in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu the gopurams of Kerala are insignificant in height and dimensions (Sarkar, 1978). The pur- pose of this research is to investigate the origin of its form for an academic audience from the field of art and architecture either across the world or from the state of Kerala. Study of the morphological differences in temple gopurams helps in understanding the underlying logic of their materials and construction. The research aims to give an insight into the practices of Dravidian architecture. The four questions that guide this work are as follows: 1. How did the form of the Kerala temple gopuram evolve in terms of its material and construction? 2. What are the types of temple gopurams seen across Kerala? 3. What are the materials and system of construction used in temple gopurams? 4. What are the rules and systems of proportion of temple gopuram construction? The scope of the research analysis of morphological differences and studies the form of temple gopurams in relation to their materials and construction methods. Given limitations of time, specific case studies were chosen accordingly, avoiding the iconographic study of space and the details of craft in the structure. The study is limited to the typical architectural style and the importance of temples in the region. The investigation is purely based on the 481 CITAA17_Book.indb 481 2/19/2018 10:09:07 AM observations of the sites and the existing literature. Any renovations to the structures maybe a threat to the validity of the study. 2 METHODOLOGY The research was done in three phases: a literature study, data collection with case studies, and data analysis. The methodology adopted was a combination of desk, field and case stud- ies. Primary data were collected through the study of the literature in the form of published books, mainly classical texts on temple construction and other books relevant to the topic. Secondary data were collected through scheduled interviews with experts in temple construc- tion. Site visits were carried out to various temples as part of the case studies, which helped to reveal the visible peculiarities of various temple gopurams. The study was conducted on the temple gopurams of Travancore, Kochi and Malabar in Kerala. 3 BACKGROUND STUDY The ‘gopuram’ is a Sanskrit word meaning a town gate or the gateway to a temple. Its etymol- ogy is uncertain and prominent scholars such as acharya, harle have suggested that, in early times, it referred only to the superstructure above the gateway. These structures are generally raised upon one or more of the cardinal axes of a temple. Gopurams provide a means of access through the outer walls that delimit successive enclosures. After their evolution in the 12th cen- tury, gopurams had larger significance in the Dravidian region. The smallest and simplest form of the gopuram is no more than a doorway pierced through a wall, whereas the largest can have a measurement of 150 feet or more on one side and a height of 300 feet (Brown, 1959). 3.1 Characteristics of Dravidian gopurams The characteristic feature of agopuram is the entrance passageway at the centre. This entrance reaches up to its cornice, dividing the portion below into two equal and separate portions. In most gopurams, the entrance consists of doorways. Two identical rooms on either side open into the central portion of the entrance. Termed the garbhagriha, the holy of holies in a shrine, according to Harle (1995), these are vestibules. They are very deep recesses rather than rooms. The vestibules of larger gopurams are divided into two storeys of the same height. The floor of the upper vestibules is frequently supported by columns. A staircase usually permits one to mount one of the upper vestibules and to the upper storeys. The floor of the lower vestibules is commonly raised as much as 4 feet above the level of the entrance. An interior circumambulatory/semi-circumambulatory corridor runs around each vesti- bule. In all later South Indian temples, the upper storeys of gopurams are made of brick, plaster and stucco, whereas the lower portions are stone or faced with stone. The upper storeys form a pylon-shaped tower; these are surmounted by oblong-shaped pavilion with barrel-shaped roofs. Every storey has a large opening on either side above the entrance. It has been noted in practice that gopurams usually have an uneven number of storeys (Harle, 1995). The sides of the tower have a decreasing batter as the number of storeys increases. The number of gopurams in a temple roughly depends on the number of enclosures. The earliest temple in South India had a single enclosing wall (Brown, 1959). 3.2 Keralan gopurams Compared with the gopurams in Tamil Nadu, the gopurams of Kerala are insignificant in height and dimensions. Yet, they are endowed with grace and nobility, and the architects of Kerala have never allowed them to outshine the temple. Like the temples, they are also built of laterite and wood. Roofs are made of tile and rise to a maximum height of three storeys. 482 CITAA17_Book.indb 482 2/19/2018 10:09:07 AM The evolution of the gopuram in Kerala temple architecture cannot be traced as the evidence is minimal, but a study on its similarity with the architecture of the temple was done. Even though the temple architecture of Kerala is within the mainstream of the Indian temple-building tradition, it has always followed its own indigenous method (Panikkar, n.d.). 3.3 Characteristics of Kerala temple gopurams The characteristic feature of a gopuram in a Kerala temple is the form itself, because it is different from the rest of the region’s temple gopurams. Like other Dravidian gopurams, this also has a passage that allows one to enter into the temple complex. This passage consists of a doorway that has a height twice its width and reaches up to the ceiling in certain cases. What is different is the location of the doorway: it is not in the middle of the gopuram, but placed towards the outside, in line with the compound wall. The entrance with the doorway reaches its cornice, dividing the area below into two equal and separate portions. The entrance divides the gopuram into two identical spaces, as there is no room in the case of Kerala gopurams. This space on either side opens into the central portion of the entrance. The vestibules are deeper than the entrance and sometimes wider too. The vesti- bules are supported by columns over the plinth that normally reach a height of more than 3 feet in the Kerala temple gopuram. A stairway from the ground permits one to mount the plinth. The upper storeys of Kerala temple gopurams are made of laterite, wood and, sometimes, granite, whereas the lower plinth is granite. For the walls, wood as well as granite is used. The roof, which rests on wall plates, is made of a roof frame consisting of a ridge beam, collar beam rafter, and purlins and tiles laid on top of it. India’s second tile factory was started in Calicut (Kozhikode) in the year 1873 (Mani, 1990). Before that the gopurams had thatched roofs. In Kerala, the gopurams are always seen as a two-storeyed building. The side of the upper storeys is always recessed from the ground and the rest of the space is covered with sloping eaves. Consequently, gopurams have survived from earlier than the 7th or 8th century AD. A background study of both Dravidian and Kerala temple gopurams was done to trace the evolution of the structure (Figure 1). Figure 1. Evolution of Dravidian and Kerala temple gopurams. 483 CITAA17_Book.indb 483 2/19/2018 10:09:07 AM 4 PRINCIPLES OF GOPURAM PLANNING 4.1 Dimension of gateways The panchaprakaras (five enclosures) are sometimes built as five solid walls.
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