Banganga Tank

The Banganga Tank belongs to the Walkeshwar Temple complex on Malabar Hill in Mumbai. Lakshman Prabhu, a minister of the Shilahara kings of Thane, built it in 1127, and it was rebuilt in 1715 with money given by Rama Kamath. Legend says Rama, searching for Sita, grew thirsty here, and Lakshmana shot an arrow into the ground to release a stream of the Ganga; hence the name, from bana, arrow. The tank, the Walkeshwar and Parshuram temples belong to the Goud Saraswat Temple Trust, and many Goud Saraswat families still live around it.

It is a rectangular pool with steps on all four sides and two lamp pillars at the entrance. Though only a few dozen metres from the sea, its water stays sweet because it is fed by a spring. The Kashi Math and Kavale Math stand on its banks, and nearby are samadhis of gurus such as Siddharameshwar Maharaj and Nisargadatta Maharaj. At Dev Diwali in November crowds light lamps around the tank amid bhajans and dance.