Temple Gateways in South India: The Architecture and Iconography of the Cidambaram Gopuras

First published in 1963, Temple Gateways in South India remains the only book-length study devoted exclusively to the gopura. These are the most visually impressive and structurally ambitious buildings in the great temple complexes of South India. The book is also a detailed account of the pre-eminent group amongst gopuras, the four outer gopuras of the Sri Nataraja temple at Cidambaram. Their architecture, sculpture and iconography, recorded here in great detail, constitute moreover the benchmark for the statuary of the later period, about which relatively little is known. Illustrated with 181 photographs and 27 line-drawings, and a detailed index, Temple Gateways in South India is required reading for anyone with more than a passing interest in the art and architecture of India and an indispensable item for any research library with an interest in the subject.