Srirangam Ranganathar temple in Tamilnadu

The first obvious difference between North and South Indian temples is the sheer size. Southern temples are much larger because South Indian kings invested a lot in temples than their palaces, which is quite the opposite in the North. We visited Srirangam Ranganathar temple in Tamilnadu which occupies an area of 156 acres, making it the largest working worship place in the world.  Vatican City can only hold 2/3rd of Srirangam temple. None of the North Indian temples are as grand as these structures. In addition, Srirangam Raja Gopuram of height 239 ft is the tallest temple tower in the world. Unfortunately, the temple was overly touched  up with colors, and a lot of areas are occupied by stores. 

I summarized other differences from an online article as doilies. North Indian temples are truly gifted in the sense they have more natural beauty to them. The majestic Ganga flowing through Rishikesh, or the breath taking backdrop of Himalayas in Kedarnath and Badrinath adds serenity to these temples. 

Agamam (ritual modality): South Indian temples follow very strict agamam culture.  Agamam is a set of text that defines the worship, temple traditions and ritual protocols. 

Forms of divinity in temples: All South Indian temples have idols being both moolavar (made of stone) and utsavar (usually made of panchalogam - 5 metals - gold, silver, copper, iron, lead). Moolavar stays in the temple and is usually made of hard rock and is represented in black colour. Utsavar is used for temple processions and can be carried outside the temple during festivals. In most North Indian temples, the idols are a represented in a very humble way, and they don't have a utsavar idols for processions.

Importance for Saints: All South Indian temples gives a very important role to the saints. 

Architecture: Dravidian temple architecture usually has a Raja Gopuram (biggest tower) at the main gate and a small tower for the sanctum sanctorum (exception being Tanjore Big temple). South Indian temple gopurams are extremely intricate filled with statues, whereas most. This is quite the reverse in North Indian temples, where the height of the structure is progressive starting from a lower height gate leading to a tall tower where the sanctum is present. Also North Indian temple towers are mostly presented in a minimalist fashion with less or no statues in them.