Banganga and
Walkeshwar area is the ancient home of Gowd
Saraswat Brahmins. Here stood the hermitage
of the sage Gautam.
Lord
Rama came here with his brother, Lakshman in
search of Mother Sita.
He
was thirsty. As there was no water readily
available, he shot an arrow and brought
Ganga over here. Hence Bana (arrow in
Sanskrit) Ganga.
Sage
Gautam advised Lord Rama to worship Lord
Shiva to get back his wife. Accordingly Lord
Rama made a shivling from the sand (Valuka
in Sanskrit) and so the word Walkeshwar
Mahadev. According to another version Lord
Parashuram shot an arrow and brought Ganga
from Patala and so the other name Patalganga
to Banganga.
The
first Walkeshwar Temple was constructed in
1127 AD by a GSB minister, Lakshman Prabhu,
in the court of Shilahar Kings in Thane. It
was reconstructed by the then famous Rama
Kamati in 1715 AD.
On
the western bank of the tank there is a
Branch of the Shri Kashi Math, a famous
religious seat of Gowda Saraswats.
There are two samadhis in the Math Premises.
1.Shri Madhavendra Tirth(7th
Swamiji, Samadhi year 1775: Shri Swamiji, it
is said
entered the Samadhi when he was still
alive and so this is a powerful jeevat
samadhi) and Shri Varadendra Tirth (18th
Swamiji: Samadhi year 1914) The Math holds
annual Saptah Mahotsav
for 7 days (uninterrupted bhajans)
starting from Nag Panchami in the month of
Shravan since 1927 AD. During the Birth
Amrit Mahotsav Celebrations of the reigning
pontiff, Shrimat Sudhindra Tirth Swamiji,
grand clebrations were organised
in the year 2000 on the very banks of
the tank in the name of Poojaniya
Banaganga.
On
the northern bank is the Branch of Shri
Kaivalya Math where there is shrine
dedicated to Shri Muralidhar Krishna and
Mother Goddess Bhadra Kali. There is a
statue of
Adi Guru Gowdapadacharya, the
exponent of Adwaita Philosophy and also the
founding father of Shri Kaivalya Math.
Here also one can see a few samadhis
of the erstwhile Swamijis of Shri Kaivalya
Math. The Math celebrates annual Ganpati
festival in a grand way.
There
is a Parashuram Temple on the eastern bank
of the tank, belonging to GSBs.
The
GSB Temple Trust owns
and
manages Shri Walkeshwar Temple as
well as the holy Banaganga Tank. This is a
great heritage point of all Saraswats in
Mumbai.
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