Kerala

Kerala’s heavy rain shaped its temples. The sanctum, the sreekovil, is often round or apsidal as well as square, and it is roofed with timber and sheathed in copper sheets under steep, sloping eaves, sometimes in two tiers. Around it runs the nalambalam, a low cloistered building enclosing the inner court, and in front stands the namaskara mandapam, a square pavilion where the priests chant. Outside are the balikkal, the great balipitha, and the tall kodimaram, the flagstaff. Walls of laterite are plastered and, in many temples, painted with murals; Vaikom, Ettumanoor and the Padmanabhaswamy are famous for them.

The Tantrasamuccaya of Chennas Narayanan Namboodiripad, composed in the 15th century, governs both the rituals and the building rules in Kerala’s temples, and each temple has its hereditary tantri family. Many great temples are counted among the Divya Desams or sung in the Tevaram: Thiruvananthapuram, Thiruvalla, Aranmula and Thiruvanchikulam among them. Non-Hindus are not admitted in most old Kerala temples, and men enter bare-chested.