History
Formerly, Kolar was known variously as Kolahala, Kuvalala and Kolala. Kolar was called Kolahalapura during the Middle Ages, but later came to be known as Kolar. Kolahahapura in Kannada meant "violent city", as it was the battlefield for the warring kingdoms of Chalukyas in the north and Cholas to the south. It was the capital of the Gangas until 4th century AD when they shifted the capital to Talakad in Mysore. In 1004 AD, the Cholas annexed Kolar until 1116 AD,. Vishnuvardhana (1108-1142 AD) freed Gangavadi from the Cholas, and in commemoration of his victory, built the celebrated Vijayanarayana Temple (Chennakesava Temple) at Belur.
The major and important temples in the town are Kolaramma Temple and Someshwara Temple. The Kolaramma temple is of Dravida Vimana style built in Ganga tradition in the 2nd century CE and dedicated to goddess Shakti. The temple was later renovated during the period of the Chola monarch Rajendra Chola I in the 10th century and Vijayanagara kings in the 15th century. Someswara Temple is a fine example of 14th century Vijayanagara art.
Read more about this topic: Kolar District
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“What has history to do with me? Mine is the first and only world! I want to report how I find the world. What others have told me about the world is a very small and incidental part of my experience. I have to judge the world, to measure things.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)
“All things are moral. That soul, which within us is a sentiment, outside of us is a law. We feel its inspiration; out there in history we can see its fatal strength.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The history of men’s opposition to women’s emancipation is more interesting perhaps than the story of that emancipation itself.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)