The Sinhalese army took Madurai and crowned its candidate, but a Chola army drove it out; the heads of the Sinhalese generals were nailed to the gates of Madurai.
01The Sinhalese landing
Parakrama Pandya of Madurai, attacked by his rival Kulasekhara, appealed to Parakramabahu I, the warrior king of Polonnaruva. Before help came, Kulasekhara took Madurai and killed Parakrama with his queen and some of his children. Parakramabahu’s general Lankapura Dandanatha landed anyway. The Culavamsa, the Lankan chronicle, follows him in detail: battles along the coast, a fort built near Rameswaram, the march inland. He took Madurai and placed Parakrama’s surviving son, Vira Pandya, on the throne.
02Heads on the gates
Kulasekhara turned to the Cholas. The Arpakkam inscription, near Kanchipuram, records that the Chola king Rajadhiraja II sent his general Tiruchirrambalamudaiyan Perumanambi against the Sinhalese. The Chola army defeated them, and Lankapura and other Sinhalese commanders were killed and their heads nailed to the gates of Madurai. Kulasekhara was crowned. The war did not end there: the Cholas raided Lanka in reply, and later changed sides when Kulasekhara turned against them. The Pandya country came out of it ruined but, within forty years, strong enough to humble the Cholas.
The war shows how far Lanka and the Chola empire were drawn into Pandya politics, and the long effort drained the Cholas on the eve of the Pandya revival.