"Lionel Place, Collector of ‘Jaghir’ from 1794-98, spent considerable sums on the restoration of the Varadaraja temple. He noted it “had been robbed of its most ornamental Pillars and other sculptural work” by Muslims to build a mosque. He said if the mosque had not been ina state of ruin “I should have thought it a commendable act of retributive justice to have restored them [the pillars] to their original place [by destroying the mosque]”. He noted that the temple had on occasions been used by Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan during the war of 1780. He recorded that the “central dome under which the sacred idol was deposited had almost to be rebuilt.” Further, the fires that had been lit in the temple had damaged sections made of granite and the floors had been ripped open by the Haider Ali’s army in search of temple treasures believed to be hidden there."