The Colas c23.23

c23.23

The inscriptions of Kulōttunga very often exhibit, besides the *praśastis*, some descriptive titles of the monarch which are a great help in the identification of his inscriptions and in the study of the history of the reign. In one record⁴⁷ of the second year, and more frequently from the fourth year⁴⁸ onwards, the phrase '*Maduraiyum Pāṇḍiyan muḍit-talaiyum koṇḍa-ruḷiya*,' meaning 'who was pleased to take Madura and the crowned head of the Pāṇḍya,' is employed to distinguish the king from his earlier namesakes. This shows that the Pāṇḍyan campaign of which we get a detailed account for the first time in the ninth year, must have commenced, if not actually been completed, some years earlier. The descriptive title quoted above is revised from time to time by the addition of Īḻam (Ceylon) in the tenth year,⁴⁹ Karuvūr in the sixteenth,⁵⁰ and of Kāñcīpuram in the twenty-fourth year.⁵¹ The city last mentioned is not included in many inscriptions; Kulōttunga is also stated to have celebrated a *vīrābhiṣēka* and a *vijayābhiṣēka*.⁵²