Sakshinatheswarar Temple,
Thiruppurambiyam – History
Thiruppurambiyam was
the fierce battlefield in the 9th century CE deciding the bright
future of Cholas. Battle of Thirupurambiyam was fought between
the Pandya king Varaguna Varman II and a confederacy of the
Pallavas, Western Ganga Dynasty and the Medieval Cholas in
about 879 CE in Thirupurambiyam
near Kumbakonam. The Pandyas lost the battle with Varaguna II going into
retirement. The battle is considered to be a turning point in the history
of South India for it precipitated the fall of the Pallava and Pandya
kingdoms and triggered the re-emergence of the Chola power in history after
centuries of obscurity during Kalabhara rule.
At the dawn of the 9th
century, the Pallava kingdom which had ruled most of South India for three
centuries began to decline. Seizing the opportunity provided by weak Pallava
rule, the Pandya king Varaguna Varman tried to force the Pallava king Aparajita
into submission. The Chola king Vijayalaya, then a feudatory of the
Pallavas, and his son Aditya Chola I, came to his assistance. Aparajita
was also assisted by the Western Ganga king Prithvipati I. Involvement of
Vijayalaya Chola in the battle is still in debate since he is said to be
deceased in 870 AD, about nine years before the war happened.
The forces of the Pallava
kingdom, Western Ganga kingdom and the Chola kingdom met the Pandyan army at Thiruppurambiyam in
the Thanjavur district of present-day state of Tamil
Nadu in 879 CE. Though, according to the Udyendiram plates of Prithvipati
II, Prithvipati I was killed after a brave fight, the allies were still able to
salvage a pyrrhic victory. The Pandyas were completely devastated as a
result of the battle and never recovered from the loss for two centuries. The
Pallavas, though victorious, were forced to give heavy concessions to their
rising Chola feudatories, who declared their independence.
The Pallava kingdom was
eventually annexed by the Cholas during the reign of Vijayalaya Chola's
son Aditya I. Chola King Aditya I built a temple in
remembrance of the turn of the tide in his favour and named it Aditeswaram.
The sanctum of the consort was built by Rajaraja Chola I. There are about
73 inscriptions in this
temple dating back to Aditya Chola I, Paranthaka Chola I, Kandarathitha
Chola, Aditya Karikala, Rajaraja Chola I, Rajendra Chola I, Kulothunga Chola, Vikrama
Chola, Rajaraja Chola III, Rajendra Chola III and Vijayanagara king Virupakshi
Raya. The last consecration ceremony took place on 18.03.2016. This
temple is under the administrative control of Thirugnanasambanthar Swamigal
Aadheenam, Madurai.
