Details about this civil war are got from two sources, the Chola as well as the Ceylonese. The Mahavamsa account from Ceylon seems to gloss over many of the more inconvenient aspects of this war, while the Chola account particularly is fuller and on the whole more trustworthy.
The Arppakkam and the Pallavarayanpettai inscriptions are specially noteworthy. From these sources we see how the civil war started and grew. In the last days of the reign of Rajaraja II, there were two contestants to the throne of Madurai, Kulasekhara Pandya and Parakrama Pandya. Kulasekhara besieged the Pandya capital which was then in Parakrama’s control. Parakrama instead of appealing to the Chola king for assistance appealed to Parakrama Bahu, the king of Ceylon, for help.
The Ceylonese responded by sending an army under the general Lankapura. Meanwhile Kulasekhara had captured Madurai, killed Parakrama Pandya, his wife and children. Lankapura continued the war till Kulasekhara was driven out of Madurai and a descendant of Parakrama was installed as the Pandyan king.
The Ceylonese general in the course of his operation effected much destruction in the Pandyan country. Kulasekhara too feeble to resist Lankapura sought Chola help and got it. The Chola army moved towards Madurai under the general Pallavaraya.
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Though the Mahavamsa says that against the Pandya-Chola combination Lankapura was successful in placing Virapandya (a son of Parakrama Pandya) on the throne, the Chola sources give a different picture, and state that Lankapura was defeated, that Kulasekhara regained the Pandyan throne, and Chola hegemony was re-established over the Pandyan country.
The Chola inscriptions go on to state that Lankapura was killed and that his head was nailed to the gates of Madurai, and that another Chola general by name Annan Pallavaraya led an expedition into Ceylon and damaged the defences of the island. He even set Sri Vallabha, a prince of Ceylon, to turn against Parakrama Bahu the ruler.
The latter thought over the matter and preferred to support the Chola candidate to the throne of Madurai. He began recognising Kulasekhara Pandya as the lawful ruler of Madurai. Now, a strange thing happened. This Kulasekhara when assured of Ceylonese help turned against his Chola benefactor, drove out the Chola soldiers and even invaded the Chola country.
The Chola emperor angered by this treachery ordered his generals to install Virapandya on the throne of Madurai and to drive Kulasekhara out. By and these orders were carried out, and these events happened during the last d Rajadhiraja’s reign. The wheel of fortune had turned one full round but in the next i.e., of Kulottunga III the wheel was to turn again in the opposite direction.