Author: Anjali Joseph
Publication: The Times of India
Date: May 28, 2006
"It was like a dream", wrote a 19th
century British diarist on visiting the temple village of Walkeshwar, that
still exists around the Banganga tank. A century-and-a-half on, the surrounding
area of Malabar Hill may have changed drastically, with highrise apartment
blocks peering down at the holy tank, but the other-worldly atmosphere of
Banganga remains.
On a recent weekday afternoon, Stephen Swami
and his wife stood supervising some local children who splashed, whooped and
tried to swim in the cool green waters of the tank. "We grew up here,"
says Swami, whose family has lived in Banganga for as long as anyone can remember.
"I'm Maharashtrian and my wife is Gujarati; our houses were side by side.
That's how it is here," he adds.
Though Banganga is in the heart of Mumbai,
residents are courteous and calm in a way not usually seen elsewhere in the
city. Their demeanour seems to go with the serenity of old Walkeshwar, a temple
village that grew up around the tank, which dates to about the 10th century.
"It's a very soothing place. On any day
outside the time of the festival, you can go there and you don't feel you're
in Mumbai," says Sharada Dwivedi, who with Rahul Mehrotra has coauthored
a book, 'Banganga: Sacred Tank on Malabar Hill' that's gone into a second
edition.
Walkeshwar first became a place of pilgrimage
because of the sacred yoni-shaped rock of Shri Gundi at the southeastern tip
of Malabar Hill. Local Koli fisherfolk worshipped the rock, believing that
anyone who managed to wriggle through the hole in the centre was absolved
of his sins. In time, the place became a site of pilgrimage. Between the 9th
and 13th centuries, the ruling Shilahara dynasty whose capital was at Sopara
had a black basalt Shiva temple constructed near the sacred rock, including
a trimurti idol similar to the earlier one in Elephanta.
Banganga finds a place in several ancient
legends; the Skanda Purana says that Parshuram, the sixth avatar of Vishnu,
created the spring by shooting an arrow (ban) into the ground near the self-created
(swayambhu) jyotirlinga there. Other legends attribute the spring to an arrow
filed by Lord Rama when he was on his way to Lanka to rescue Sita. Rama is
also believed to have created the sand lingam ('waluka ishwar') from which
Walkeshwar got its name. The original Walkeshwar temple, next to the tank,
still has a sand lingam.
The heritage precinct of Banganga still benefits
from being one of the best-kept public secrets in the city Many Mumbaikars
have never been to the tank, which is fringed with several temples and old
as well as newer houses. The area also retains its character with different
communities living together. (At Walkeshwar mandir, for example, pujas are
performed priests from both Gaud Saraswat and Gujarati Brahmin communities.)
But how long can Banganga remain insulated
against changing times? It falls within the city's most sought-after real
estate belt, though heritage regulations offer some protection against development
here. Another concern is the poor condition of parts of the precinct, like
the beach just off the south-eastern tip of the tank, which is filthy. The
annual music festival held by the Indian Heritage Society in collaboration
with Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation has done a lot to promote
awareness of the precinct, though the SC prohibition of loudspeakers in residential
areas has affected the festival, says Dwivedi.
