Senji Panambakkam, a small village in Thiruvallur District, has a tiny but historic temple for Siva, worshipped as Kailasanathar and also as Cholishwarar.
The entrance to the temple at present is from the south which is without a gopuram and has only a gate. The temple faces east with a Nandi and bali-pitham in front and another small Nandi directly in front of the Siva Lingam. Above the lintel of the main doorway is a row of well-carved Siva ganas as seen in many Chola era temples. In the open prakaram (enclosure) is a sanctum for Subramanya with Valli and Devayani and the sthala vriksham (sacred tree) which is the Nagalinga Maram. A large Siva Lingam, which was unearthed in the temple premises and the linga pitha, which was made later are in worship here. Goddess Parvati in this temple is worshipped as Tripurasundari Ambal and faces south with a lion vahana in front.
Interestingly, an image of Vishnu, called Varadaraja Perumal is seen in the prakaram. This deity is in a seated posture, holding the sankha and chakra in the upper hands. The lower right hand is in abhaya hasta (blessing) and lower left hand is on a mace (gada-hasta). Perumal is flanked by images of Goddesses Sridevi and Bhudevi and Garuda is in front.
Not too far away, is another small village called Senji which also has a Chola era Siva temple where the deity is called Janamejayeshwarar. The sthala puranam or traditional story connects this temple with Janamejaya, who was the son of Parikshit, grandson of Abhimanyu and great-grandson of Arjuna of Mahabharata fame.
Although this temple is in a dilapidated condition, the essential features like pillars and sculptures mark it to be a fine example of Chola architecture and iconography. Numerous inscriptions, donative in nature, mostly of the Chola dynasty, have been etched here. The earliest of these belongs to the reign of Vikrama Chola and is dated 1128 CE. This epigraph mentions the ancient name of the temple as Jayamatishwaram Udaiya Mahadeva at Senji which was situated in Manavil Nadu, a subdivision of Manavil Kottam. Another inscription belonging to the reign of Kulottunaga Chola III, dated 1206 CE, mentions the name of this shrine as Janamatishvaram Udaiya Nayanar. A few inscriptions of the reign of Rajaraja Chola III are seen here, among which, one is interesting. This lithic record, dated 1224 CE mentions that a man was given some grains and money for growing and supplying red lilies to the temple of Thiruvekambam Udaiyar (God Ekamranatha of Kancheepuram).
Incidentally, Senji is about 48 km from Kancheepuram, the famed mukti-sthalam and renowned for its hoary temples. An epigraph of the illustrious ruler, Jatavarman Sundara Pandya (1251-1268 CE) in the Panambakkam temple mentions a donation to this shrine.