SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAHA.
Let me add some information on ?gopuram? and ?vimanam?
as found in Tamil.
The word gopuram has been in usage in Tamil from very
early times.
ChoodAmaNi Nikandu, one of the oldest thesaurus in
Tamil specifies that the terms Gopuram and Kotti are
synonymous (any explanation for Thiru-kkottiyur?) and
are used to refer to the entrance of ?Nagar?
The verse V-45 of the Nikandu says,
?virinda gopuramE kotti migum pura vAyilin pEr? as
synonyms for ?nagara vAyil?
Here ?pura vAyil? seems to imply ?outer entrance? that
is, the foremost entry point of the Nagar. This simple
reading gives no specific relationship of Gopuram to
temple. But a further analysis of what the word nagar
in Tamil stands for gives some interesting insight.
(Though the origins of the terms nagar, nagaram and
nagari are still disputed, theses terms had existed in
Tamil from very early times. An exposition of these
terms that these have originated from Tamil and not
Sanskrit is included in +2 Tamil text book of
Tamilnadu State Board)
One of the early usages of Nagar was in the context of
temple. This was at a time when ?koil? meant the
King?s palace (ko+il).
Of the 4 contexts where the word nagar appears in Pura
NanUru, it is used to mean ?temple? in only one place,
i.e., in the 6th verse.
?MukkaN selvar nagar valam seyarkE? says the poet KAri
kizhAr. The sceptre of the Pandian king lowers on
only one occasion, that is when the king goes around
the Shiva temple.
Connecting this to the Nikandu meaning of Nagara
vayil, it seems correct to interpret that the foremost
entrance of a temple or a township was known as
gopuram. It seems this need not necessarily denote the
tall pyramidal structure found atop the entrance. For,
we have in usage the term, ?mottai gopuram? in the
absence of the pyramid. This usage must have come to
stay only if the entrance was called as gopuram. It
would not have mattered whether the super imposing
structure had existed or not. The Nikandu also says
?virinda? (wide) and not ?vuyarnda? (tall) gopuram
which makes us interpret it to mean ?wide entrance?.
The adage ?gopura dharshanam, papa vimochanam? must
have meant only temple gopurams with kalasmas on top
that are consecrated with manthra puja at the time of
Kumbhabhishekam.
A further probe into terms like ?ko? ?koil? in Tamil
makes us wonder whether the word gopuram was
originally pronounced as ?kopuram? but transformed
into ?gopuram? as the word came to symbolise the
temple gopuram in sanskrit. The word ?ko? in Tamil
stands for king and also God. In early works, ko+il
(koil) was meant for the king?s palace and it came to
signify temple only much later. Similarly, ko+puram
might have meant the outer portion of the king?s /
god?s dwelling.
The term ?vimanam? also seems to be native to Tamil
language, but was used to denote Deva-lokam. The verse
V-3 of ChoodamaNi Nikandu says
? Viyanulagam thurakkam mElulagam vimanam? are the
synonyms of deva-lokam.
The meanings of Vimanam as we know today seem to be
later adaptations.
Please correct me for mistakes in the above mail.
Regards,
Jayasree saranathan
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