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.
Gopurams around a large temple dwarf the older central structures. The Annamalaiyar Temple in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu
Vijayanagara style architecture characterized by Yali pillars at Sri Kalyana Ramaswamy temple in Thenkaraikottai, Ramaiyampati.
Stone vel on a brick platform at the entrance to the Murugan Temple, Saluvankuppam, Tamil Nadu, 300 BCE-300 CE
Chennai Parthasarathy Perumal Temple is One of the oldest temples of Pallavas dating early 500 CE
Hindu temple architecture
Hindu temple architecture as the main form of Hindu architecture has many varieties of style, 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. 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.
Architecture of a Hindu temple (Nagara style). These core elements are evidenced in the oldest surviving 5th–6th century CE temples.
Initial excavations
Elliptic plan of the Temple
Kankali Devi temple in Tigawa, 5th century