Senji Janmejaya Eswaran Temple, Gingee

Address

Senji Janmejaya Eswaran Temple Gingee, Panambakkam, Villupuram district Tamil Nadu 631203

Diety

Janmejaya Eswaran

Introduction

The temple which is in dilapidated state is called as Janmejaya Eswaran temple. Janmejaya was the great grand son of Arjun, one of the five Pandava brothers of Mahabharat. Probably, Janmejaya might have visited the site or mythologically built this temple. Unfortunately, similar to this temple, even the legend, if any, remains a mystery. Hence, we could not conclude the connection between Janmejaya, the very first listener of Mahabharat epic, and Lord Shiva of Senji, who is named after the Emperor. it appears that the original name of the deity was Jayamadeeswaram Udaiya Mahadevar. So, there is a possibility that this village was originally called as Jayamadeeswaram and the deity’s name was slowly changed to Janmejaya Eswaran.

Puranic Significance

There are inscriptions found on the walls of the temple. They belong to the period of Rajaraja Chola III and Kulotunga Chola III (12th/13th centuries CE). Although few experts who have visited this temple believe this to be of a Chola temple, from the style of pillars in the Maha mandap and the sculptures of lions, for me, I believe that the temple originally built by the Pallavas could have been renovated by the later Cholas. The east facing temple does not have a tower. It has a small Nandi mandap and bali peetha which are not in good condition. The entrance of the sanctum is on the southern direction and it is erected on a raised platform. The moolasthan is in extremely bad condition and the ceiling can fall at any time. Hence, the main deity, Shiv Linga called as Janmejaya Eswar, is moved to the Ardha Mandap