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Dear Patrons of this site,

Namaskarams. I can explain a little about the word
Gopuram in my sense of understanding. 

Go is Cow. Puram is back side.

The shape of the temple tower is like the cow looked
from the back side with ears standing up. Hence
Gopuram.

Thanks.

Srinivasan





--- shankar bharadwaj <bharatkhand@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Dear Bhagavatas:
> The word "Go" in Sanskrit has several meanings. This
> has been explained in one of my postings some tears
> ago. I will find out when and where this posting
> appears. By resorting to anyone of these meanings,
> we can fit in the meaning of the word "Gopuram" in
> several ways. 
> 
> The explanation given by Sri Shankar seems to have
> some basis. I have read somehwere that as per Agama
> Saastras, the construction of temple is like the
> human anatomy. The "Garbha graham" representing the
> "womb" enclosing the vital Sakti of the deity, the
> "Gopuram" being the crown etc.
> 
> Would any Bhagavta well versed in Agama Sastra throw
> some light on this?
> 
> As for the "manipravaaLam", there are very many
> words in Tamil that are derived from or bear
> relationship to words in Sanskrit. For example, the
> common word "VeshTi" to denote "dhoti" is a Sanskrit
> word!
> Dasoham
> Anbil Ramaswamy
>
=================================================================================================================================================
> 
> 
> 
> I think there can an explanation like this: 
> 
> 
> ?go? should be taken as ray of light. And a temple
> is in the shape of a man sitting, with gopuram
> placed at his crown? so gopuram should be the center
> of his knowledge? and that etymology should come in
> those lines. God?s idol is symbolically placed at
> the heart of the sitting man (temple). 
> 
> 
> > Dear friends,
> > 
> > A good friend and member of this group has written
> > to
> > me asking me about the etymology of the Sanskrit
> > word
> > "gOpuram" -- temple-tower. It's a very intriguing
> > question indeed.
> > 
> > Honestly, I do not know the exact linguistic
> origin
> > of
> > the word. I am only speculating wildly when I say
> > that
> > "gOpuram" comes from "gO puram" where "gO"
> probably
> > refers to cows or cow-shed, "gO shAla", and
> "puram"
> > means "city", "neighbourhood" or "residence". In
> > ancient days, temples in India did have separate
> > quarters inside the temple precincts to house many
> > cow-sheds. Often these cowsheds were built
> abutting
> > the temple tower (as can be seen even now in the
> > Kanchi Varadaraja temple), giving hence the
> > temple-tower its unique name of "gO puram" -- the
> > "residence of cows".
> > 
> > My other guess is that the "gO" in the word might
> > refer to God's "tirUnAma" of "gOvinda" or
> "gOpAla".
> > Since the temple is a residence ('puram') of
> Govinda
> > or Gopala, its great tower was probably given the
> > distinctive name of "gO puram". I'm however a
> little
> > uneasy with this explanation, because when I look
> at
> > a
> > Shiva or Shakthi temple in India I find the tower
> > there too being called "gOpuram" and I know that
> the
> > word "gO" is not used to designate or otherwise
> > associated with the deities, Shiva or Amba.
> > 
> > Between the two theories above, I personally
> prefer
> > the 'cows' & 'cowsheds' one. Cows or "gO" are said
> > to
> > be utterly and completely 'sAttvic' creatures and
> > are
> > the natural favourites of the Almighty. That is
> why
> > Vedic adepts have said that if one has a problem
> > finding a suitable place to perform a Vedic
> "yagnya"
> > (rite of sacrifice) like "agni-hOtra" or daily
> > "owpAsana", one need look no further than the
> > nearest
> > 'gO shAla'. It is easily the second-best place for
> > 'yagnyA-karma' next to a properly sanctified
> > 'yagnya-shAla'.
> > 
> > I have another observation to make here. 
> > 
> > The very soil inside a temple is said to be
> > supremely
> > sacrosanct. We should ask ourselves why it is so.
> If
> > there are indeed any "gO shAla-s" within a temple
> > and
> > the herds are often led about, here and there,
> > within
> > the precincts, then the soil they trample upon is
> > said
> > to become "gO dhULi" -- the dust thrown up by
> > cow-hoofs. This fine dust blown off the hoofs of
> > cows
> > is held to be sacred since in the 'Krisha-avatAr',
> > the
> > Lord as a simple cow-herd at Brindavan lovingly
> > tended
> > these blessed creatures and, in the process, was
> > perennially being peppered by the dust and grime
> > they
> > kicked up as they went around grazing. Krishna of
> > Brindavan must have been a real sight indeed
> covered
> > as He was, all the time, in hoof-dust! This is the
> > reason why it is said that of all the names or
> > "tirUnAma" given to Krishna, the one he cherished
> > most
> > as being the aptest one for him was -- "gOvindan".
> > 
> > Now, whenever a pilgrim in India enters into the
> > portals or the "gOpuram" of any temple, he is
> > expected
> > to mentally re-live the scenes of the
> > "krishnAvatAra"
> > and imagine too, as well, the "gO dhULi" spread
> fine
> > all across the cowherd, Krishna's person. The soil
> > upon the temple-grounds is to be regarded as the
> > same
> > dust that came off the hoofs of those blessed cows
> > at
> > Brindavan. Why? Because those cows of Krishna's
> > times
> > are to be reverentially regarded as the ancestors
> of
> > the cows now being witnessed by the pilgrim in the
> > 'go
> > shAla' of the temple.
> > 
> > Thus, the long and short of it all is this:
> > 
> > The tower that guards the sacred, "sAttvic" soil
> of
> > "gO dhULi" strewn and spread all across the temple
> > grounds -- such a tower, quite appropriately, gets
> > the
> > name "gO puram".
> > 
> > **************
> > 
> > These are just a few of my unschooled thoughts.
> > Sanskrit is such a bewitchingly beautiful language
> > it
> > is always a delight to theorize with licence upon
> > its
> > ancient linguistic roots. 
> > 
> > I now request real scholars of Sanskrit on this
> list
> > to please throw more linguistic light on the
> > etymology
> > of the word "gOpuram".
> > 
> > Thanks and regards,
> > 
> > dAsan,
> > Sudarshan 
> > 
> 
> 
> Shankara Bharadwaj
>               
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