Mumbai Mart - Malabar Hill & Walkeshwar

Malabar Hill & Walkeshwar

It was at Malabar hill, the highest point in Bombay (15 m above sea level) that the Silhara dynasty built the Walkeshwar temple. They ruled Mumbai from the 9th to the 13th century. The original structure was destroyed by the Portuguese and rebuilt in 1715 by Rama Kamath, a Shenvi Brahmin.

The Banganga tank attached to the temple, is the oldest structure in Bombay. The main temple has been reconstructed since then and is, at present, a reinforced concrete structure. One of the oldest structures on the site is the Venkateshwar Balaji Mandir, a Peshwa era temple with a wooden canopy, dating from 1789.

Another elegant structure is the Rameshwar Mandir, probably built in 1825. Folklore has it that the Walkeshwar temple was built by Ram, who sent his brother Lakshman to Banaras to get a Shivalinga to be established here. Before it could be brought, he had an alternative constructed from sand.

Folk etymology derives the name Walkeshwar from the Sanskrit name for an idol made of sand-- Valuka Iswar.

The origin of the Banganga tank is shrouded in conflict. Some opine that it contains the water brought up all the way from the Holy Ganges when a thirsty Ram (during his search for his abducted wife Sita) fired an arrow into the ground. Others trace the arrow to Parashuram, who they say, fired it from the mainland. A rock formation at present-day Malabar Point, called the Shri Gundi was claimed to have the power to cleanse the sins of pilgrims, and is reputed to have been visited by Shivaji and Kanhoji Angre.

By 1860, the Walkeshwar temple started attracting a large number of people. There were 10 to 20 other temples around it and over 50 dharamshalas. Fairs were held near the temple on Kartik Purnima and Mahashivratri. The first European to build a bungalow here was Montstuart Elphinstone, during the period of his Governorship. After this, in the boom period of the 1860's and 1870's many Englishmen built houses here and the area became a posh locality which it still remains.