The Banganga Tank is a

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

which is part of the Hindu

Walkeshwar Temple Walkeshwar Temple, also known as the (Baan Ganga Temple), is an Ancient Hindu temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva located in Walkeshwar, near Malabar Hill neighbourhood, in South Mumbai precinct of the city of Mumbai, India. It is situated at ...

complex in the

Malabar Hill Malabar Hill is amongst the most affluent residential areas in Mumbai. It is home to several business tycoons and film personalities. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, had built and lived in a bungalow, called South Court, in Malab ...

area of the city of

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

History

The tank was built in AD 1127 by Lakshman Prabhu, a minister in the court of Silhara kings of

Thane Thane (; previously known as Thana, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city located on the northwestern side of the list of Indian states, state of Maharashtra in India and on ...

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

Rama Kamath Rama Kamat (died 1728) 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

According to local legend, the temple sprang forth when

Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

, the exiled hero of the epic ''

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

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

Sita Sita (; ), also known as Siya, Jānaki and Maithili, is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Sita is the consort of Rama, the avatar of god Vishnu, and is regarded as an avatar of goddess Lakshmi. She is t ...

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

Lakshmana Lakshmana (, ), also known as Laxmana, Lakhan, Saumitra, and Ramanuja, is the younger brother of Rama in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is considered as an incarnation of Shesha, the lord of serpents. Lakshmana was married to Urmila, and i ...

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 which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

, which flows over a thousand miles away – hence its name, ''

Banganga The Banganga Tank is a temple tank which is part of the Hindu Walkeshwar Temple complex in the Malabar Hill area of the city of Mumbai, India. History The tank was built in AD 1127 by Lakshman Prabhu, a minister in the court of Silhara ki ...

'', 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), also known as Shenvis are a Hindu community of contested caste status and identity. They primarily speak Konkani and its various dialects as their mother tongue. They claim to be Saraswat Brah ...

s on its banks, including ''

samadhi Statue of a meditating Rishikesh.html" ;"title="Shiva, Rishikesh">Shiva, Rishikesh ''Samādhi'' (Pali and ), in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, is a state of meditative consciousness. In many Indian religious traditions, the cultivati ...

s'' of the ''

maths Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, theories and theorems that are developed and proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many areas of mathematics, which include num ...

''’ 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 Nisarga ...

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

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