Explanation
Temples were destroyed by invading rulers as they were a large store of treasure and riches. Thus, temples were viewed as targets that were to be attacked in the course of battles.
In the early ninth century, when the Pandyan king Shrimara Shrivallabha invaded Sri Lanka and defeated the king, he removed all the valuables like The statue of the Buddha made entirely of gold in the Jewel Palace and the golden images in the various monasteries.
The blow to the pride of the Sinhalese (Srilankan) ruler had to be avenged and the next Sinhalese ruler, Sena II ordered his general to invade Madurai the Pandyan capital.
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