ABSTRACT
Master craftsmen have from generation to generation consistently adhered to basic principles of architecture and functional design. Architectural and organizational response to guiding principle has probably continued for over 2000 years. Kerala's copper roofing is unique enough to set this state apart architecturally from the rest of India. Some similarities and variations between the Kerala style Hindu temples and Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu temples elsewhere in South Asia can be identified. The gopura serves as a grand entrance structure centered on one side of the wall which normally surrounds the temple grounds. The bilikkal is a type of altar erected before a temple's main entrance, although some face other entrances as well. A valiambalam is the front enclosed section which one passes through before entering a temple's interior courtyard. A koothambalam is literally a temple in which koothu is performed. The kavu is a sacred grove usually located in the northwest sector of a temple complex.
