The allies broke the Pandya army; the Ganga king died on the field, and the Chola feudatory who fought beside the Pallava later overthrew him.
01Three allies against Madurai
Varaguna II of Madurai had pushed north into the Kaveri country; one of his inscriptions, from Tiruchirappalli, records victories over Chola and Ganga forces. Against him stood the Pallava Aparajita, his ally the Ganga king Prithvipati I from the Mysore plateau, and the Chola chief Aditya I, then a Pallava feudatory holding Thanjavur. They met near the village of Thiruppurambiyam, a short way from Kumbakonam. The Udayendiram plates, issued by Prithvipati’s grandson, say the Ganga king defeated Varaguna there, made his ally’s name Aparajita, the unconquered, come true, and gave up his own life in the fight.
02The real winner
The Pandyas withdrew to the far south and did not trouble the Kaveri delta again for a long time. Aparajita had won the battle, but he had leaned on Aditya, and Aditya was rewarded with more land. Within about two decades Aditya I killed Aparajita in battle and took Tondaimandalam, the Pallava home country around Kanchi. The Pallava line of Kanchi ended. From Aditya’s son Parantaka I to Rajendra, the Chola empire grew from that base. The shrine at Thiruppurambiyam, the Sakshinatha temple, still stands near the battlefield.
Thirupurambiyam ended the Pandya threat to the Kaveri country and set the Cholas on the rise that made them the greatest power of the south.