Banganga Tank

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Banganga Tank is part of the Walkeshwar Temple Complex in the city of Bombay, India. It was built by the Silhara dynasty in the 12th century. The tank was rebuilt in 1715 out of a donation for the temple by Rama Kamath. The main temple, has been reconstructed since then and is at present a reinforced concrete structure of recent construction.

The tank is fed by a spring and, every February, cleaned and spruced up for the annual Banganga Hindustani classical music festival, a major cultural event in the city. Despite being located only a few dozen meters from the sea, the tank contains fresh water.

According to local legend, it sprang forth when the Hindu god Ram, the exiled hero of the epic Ramayana, stopped at the spot five thousand years ago in search of his kidnapped wife Sita. Overcome with fatigue and thirst, he asked his brother Laxman to bring him some water. Laxman instantly shot an arrow into the ground, and water gushed forth from a tributary of the Ganges, which flows over a thousand miles away.

The tank today is a rectangular pool structure surrounded by steps on all four sides. At the entrance are two pillars in which oil lamps called diyas were lit in ancient times. On the western flank of the tank is an ancient temple built by the Silhara kings.