It is the largest and greatest south Indian Vaishnava temple. It is a meandering structure built during many centuries and completed by the 17th century A.D. The outermost wall protecting the group of buildings is a rectangle measuring 2880 feet x 2475 feet enclosing an area of over half a square mile and including large and small Gopurams. The main architectural features of the temple are the hall of thousand pillars, a flat roofed structure 500 feet by 160 feet and the horse court within, containing 900 carved granite monoliths.