Muneeswaran Temple in Tamil Nadu

A ‘Muneeswaran’ temple, for example, that is so popular in Tamil Nadu, may  just consist of a raised plinth with the Muneeswaran’s figurine on it and nothing more; somewhere else, a curved south Indian scimitar jutting out from a mound of earth , with a garland around it, can be a complete temple in itself for the local community. These primarily provincial versions of temple making are not representative of the general Dravidian Temple style, but not unpopular though.

These exceptions apart, the south, is mostly marked by the definitive Gopurams.

Down south, as much as the architectural style distinctly differs from that of the North Indian Nagara Sytle, the choice of gods and deities too, around whom the places of worship are built, differ. For example, while the Ram temple is almost everywhere in the north, in the south it is not so popular; there are many places in the south where the Ram temple is even unheard of.