Size of Tiger in India

So how big is a tiger?

 I had a very exciting few minutes in India a few years ago and came into quite close contact with a most beautiful wild cat, a male tiger. My memory tells me he was about the length of a 3 seater sofa but maybe my mind's eye is playing tricks on me!

 What do you think? Here's a photo of his paw print - a cast impression taken from the park by one of the rangers and as you can see it's slightly bigger than an adult female humans hand.

Was he as big as a sofa or did my slight nervousness at being so close to such a powerful and magnificent wild cat make me see him as larger than life? He was simply awesome