A gopuram is the towering pyramidal gateway that marks the entrances of Dravidian-style temples in South India, covered in tiers of vividly sculpted deities, guardians, and mythological scenes. Gopurams grew dramatically under the Pandya, Vijayanagara, and Nayaka dynasties, often becoming taller than the temple's own sanctum tower — the Ranganathaswamy Temple at Srirangam has the tallest at about 72 meters (236 feet), and the Meenakshi Temple at Madurai is famous for its fourteen gopurams. Large temples have gopurams at all four cardinal entrances of each concentric enclosure wall (prakara). The gopuram serves as both a landmark visible for miles and a symbolic threshold between the everyday world and sacred space.