The Colas c21.22

c21.22

Records of the fifth year of the reign contain a vague statement that the head of the Pāṇḍya king lay on the ground pecked by kites; later inscriptions say that this was outside the beautiful city of Kulōttunga.⁵² It is clear that these statements are not meant to be taken literally, and that they are no more historical than the exaggerated phrases of conventional praise that precede them in the inscriptions. For a more business-like account of the southern campaign, we must turn to the additional matter that begins to appear in the *pugaḻ śūḻnda puṇari* introduction from the eleventh year,⁵³ and to some other inscriptions of the reign.