The Banganga Tank is a

temple tank Temple tanks are wells or reservoirs built as part of the temple complex near Indian temples. They are called pushkarini, kalyani, kunda, sarovara, tirtha, talab, pukhuri, ambalakkuḷam, etc. in different languages and regions of India. Some t ...

which is part of the Hindu

Walkeshwar Temple Walkeshwar Temple, also known as the ''Baan Ganga Temple'', is a temple dedicated to the Hindu god, Shiva located in Walkeshwar, near Malabar Hill neighbourhood, in South Mumbai precinct of the city of Mumbai, India. It is situated at the h ...

complex in the

Malabar Hill Malabar Hill (ISO: Malabār Hill ələbaːɾ is a hillock and upmarket residential neighbourhood in South Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Malabar Hill is the most exclusive residential area in Mumbai. It is home to several business tycoons and f ...

area of the city of

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

History

The tank was built in AD 1127 by

Lakshman Prabhu Lakshman Prabhu was a minister in the court of the Silhara dynasty that ruled the islands that today constitute the Indian city of Mumbai. He belonged to the Prabhu community of Konkan. He is known for overseeing the construction of the famous Wa ...

, a minister in the court of Silhara kings of

Thane Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in Maharashtra, India. It is situated in the north-eastern portion of the Salsette Island. Thane city is entirely within Thane taluka, one of the seven taluk ...

. It was rebuilt in 1715, funded by a donation from

Rama Kamath Rama Kamat (died 1720) was a Mumbai (Bombay)-based businessman and philanthropist. The records of his life are scanty. He was connected with the command of Indian troops under the British and had some connections with Kanhoji Angre. He paid for t ...

. The main temple has since been reconstructed and is now a reinforced concrete structure of recent construction.

Banganga in mythology

Banganga Tank and Walkeshwar Temple, Bombay, c

According to local legend, the temple sprang forth when

Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...

, the exiled hero of the epic ''

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

'', stopped at the spot in search of his kidnapped wife,

Sita Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, ''Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi. She ...

. As the legend goes, overcome with fatigue and thirst, Rama asked his brother

Lakshmana Lakshmana ( sa, लक्ष्मण, lit=the fortunate one, translit=Lakṣmaṇa), also spelled as Laxmana, is the younger brother of Rama and his loyalist in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He bears the epithets of Saumitra () and Ramanuja () ...

to bring him some water. Lakshmana instantly shot an arrow into the ground, and water gushed forth from the ground, creating a tributary of the

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

, which flows over a thousand miles away – hence its name, ''Banganga'', ie the ''Ganga'' created by a ''baan'' (arrow). The Banganga also houses the Shri Kashi Math and Shri Kaivalya/Kavale Math of the

Goud Saraswat Brahmin Gaud Saraswat Brahmins (GSB) (also Goud or Gawd) are a Hindu Brahmin community of the north. The Konkani speaking Gaud Saraswat of Goa and southern India claim to be descendents of these Gaud Saraswat Brahmins of the north that migrated to K ...

s on its banks, including ''

samadhi ''Samadhi'' (Pali and sa, समाधि), in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools, is a state of meditative consciousness. In Buddhism, it is the last of the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path. In the Ashtanga Yoga ...

s'' of the ''

maths Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

''’ past heads. The area also has a Hindu cremation ground which after 2003 received a makeover to house a gas crematorium. The area still has an old Hindu cemetery consisting of ''samadhi'' shrines of various advaitin gurus, such as

Siddharameshwar Maharaj Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj (1888–1936) was a guru in the Inchagiri Sampradaya founded by his guru Bhausaheb Maharaj, a branch of the Navnath Sampradaya, the 'Nine Masters' tradition in India. His disciples included Nath teachers Nisargadat ...

(1888–1936) and his disciple, Ranjit Maharaj (1913–2000),Nisaragdatta Maharaj(1897-1981), Bhainath Maharaj (Journey to Banganga, Trilok Gurtu
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Present day

The tank today is a rectangular pool structure surrounded by steps on all four sides. At the entrance are two pillars in which ''diyas'' (oil lamps) were lit in ancient times. The tank, as well as the main Walkeshwar Temple and the Parshuram Temple, belong to the Goud Saraswat Temple Trust, which once owned most of the property in the complex. Many Goud Saraswat Brahmin families (Rege, Anaokar, Mulgaonkar, Kenkre, Sakhardande, Sukthankar, Keni, Marudkar, Naik, Wartikar, Warerkar, Bidikar, Bhende, Prabhawalkar, Pagnis) still reside in the Temple Trust buildings in the complex. The tank is spring-fed; thus its water remains sweet, despite being located only a few dozen meters away from the sea. Apart from being a cultural hub, the place over the years has provided inspiration to many artists, be it on film or on canvas.

References

External links

Images of Banganga
{{coord, 18, 56, 48.78, N, 72, 47, 36.93, E, region:IN, display=title Religious buildings and structures in Mumbai History of Mumbai Temple tanks in India