Visit a religious building in your neighbourhood. Describe, with sketches, its roof, pillars and arches if any, corridors, passages, halls, entrance, water supply, etc. Compare these features with those of the Virupaksha temple. Describe what each part of the building is used for. Find out about its history.

I am living in Tamil Nadu. There is a Hindu religious temple in our neighbourhood. I have notice seven characteristics of this temple.

Fig. : A Gopuram

In terms of temple architecture, certain new features are evidence. These included structures of immense scale that must have been a mark of imperial authority, best exemplified by the gopurams or royal gateways that often dwarfed the towers on the central shrines, and signalled the presence of the temple from a great distance. They were also probably meant as reminders of the power of kings, able to command the resources, techniques and skills needed to construct these towering gateways.

The Virupakhsa Temple was built over centuries. While inscriptions suggest that the earliest shrine dated to the ninth-tenth centuries it was substantially enlarged with the eastiblishment of the Vijayanagara Empire.

The hall in front of the main shrine was built by Krishnadeva Raya to mark his accession. This was decorated with delicately carved pillars. He is also credited with the construction of the eastern gopuram. These additions meant that the central shrine came to occupy a relatively small part of the complex. The halls in the temple were used for a variety of purposes. Some were spaces in which the images of gods were placed to witness special programmes of music, dance, drama, etc. Others were used to celebrate the marriages of deities, and yet others were meant for the deities to swing in. Special images, distinct from those kept in the small central shrine, were used on these occasions.

Fig. An aerial view of the Virupaksha Temple

Comparison with Virupaksha Temple:

When we compare religious building we visited in our neighbourhood with Virupaksha Temple it is total different. The reason may be time period of the constructions.