Unable to login to phpmyadmin

[arunavapal]

Hello I have installed XAMPP 1.8.1. After install I set the root password for MySql through the security page http://localhost/security/xamppsecurity.php. The security page showed that the password has been changed succesfully. Subsequently, http://localhost/security/index.php also showed that the root user password has been set. However, when I try to run phpmyadmin it does not login to the server and gives following error "Cannot log in to the MySQL server". I have tried changing the password through the security page and it shows that password has been updated succesfully. My XAMPP version is 1.8.1. The drop down menu doesn't have the option so I selected 1.8.0

Kindly help.