Banganga Tank

It is always a hard decision, whether to just be at that place and feel it or also write the thoughts and feelings down which you won’t be able to do afterwards.

So I am at the banganga tank at walkeshwar; slightly ahead of malabar hills. I can simply describe it as a getaway from the city. There is a big tank in the middle, and stairs all around escalating towards different directions where temples are situated. There are swans, some feeding themselves on algae, some interacting with the visitors, some just relaxing in the water and some just embracing their solitude. I can hear the birds chirping, the wind blowing past and the bells from the mandirs ringing.

The interesting part is; there are around 10 temples just at the same location, around the banganga tank. There is walkeshwar temple, jaggannath temple, mahalaxmi temple, venkatesh balaji temple, purusharam temple, hanuman temple, ganesha temple, rameshwar temple, shankar temple, and another laxmi temple. All are more than 300 years old.

Though banganga tank’s story dates back to 5000 years when ram ji and sita ji visited the place. That time it was a complete jungle surrounded by sea water. Sita ji was thirsty and couldn’t drink the salty sea water. Ram ji launched a bow and that bow struck at the middle of banganga tank and water sprang up. Since then there is a tank there.

All the other temples have different stories of their existence.

This side of the glittery city deserves some more significance than it has been given. It was earlier used for a lot of shoots. But the old temples, the heritage, the mythologies revolving around deserve much more attention.

It gave me a feel of a ‘tirth sthan’, a sacred place, because of so many temples, the shops selling holy things, the pandit ji’s taking their customary bath in the tank, the aarti starting in one temple, then another, then another. All around I could see people indulged in their faith.

It requires a little more upkeep and little more sense from the visitors. As like any other place, the filth around distracts the eyes, I also saw some irresponsible college students smoking at the stairs of such holy place.

All in all banganga tank is a place where you can just go and sit, enjoy the surrounding, get lost in the mythologies, marvel at the swans and embrace the holy water. Marine drive and chowpatty is not always the solution.

#travel