The sabha mandap inside Rameshwar Temple has retained the wooden ceiling and timber pillars. In 1934, a local merchant, Lallubhai Tribhuvandas, gifted the marble floor in memory of his wife. Rameshwar Temple was renovated in 2005 by the Indian Heritage Society Mumbai, with funds donated by Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation.
Towering above the Banganga Tank is the weathered shikara of Rameshwar Temple, built in the North Indian Nagara style with amalaka (a stone disc in temple architecture) and kalash (an architectural element shaped like a metal pot with a large base and a narrow mouth) at the summit. Small figures of lions appear on the four sides of the shikara and there is a carving of Lord Shiva as Nataraja on its east face, facing the tank.
The Rameshwar Temple was built by Raghoba Jivaji Jayakar in 1842. He was a member of the Pathare Prabhu community. The temple is believed to have been built on the site of an older Koli temple and it combines a Nagara style pyramidal shikhara, and a Konkan-style sabhagriha. In front of Rameshwar Temple overlooking Banganga Tank ghats is the domed Ganapati Temple, also built by Raghoba Jivaji Jayakar in 1842.
One of the latest additions to community spaces around the Banganga Tank is this marine-themed playground adjacent to Rameshwar Temple. This site was earlier used as a garbage dumping ground before it was revamped by the RPG Foundation as part of the Banganga Revival Project and is now a place of fun and games for the neighborhood kids.
The site of Parashuram Temple was once a garden owned by a lady, Hariganga Ranchhoddas Bhansali. She donated the land in February 1965 and the Parashuram Temple was built in that space overlooking the western steps of Banganga Tank. Parashuram is an avatar of Lord Vishnu. The Skanda Purana mentions how Parashuram threw his parashu (battle axe) into the sea to reclaim the narrow strip of land along the Konkan coast, starting from Maharashtra all the way to Kerala, which is also known as Parashuram-kshetra.
This heavily eroded panel is placed on the steps leading down to Banganga Tank. These stone panels are believed to have been part of from the old Walkeshwar Temple built by the Shilahara rulers. After the temple was demolished by the Portuguese, many of the broken pieces were salvaged and now lay scattered around the tank. The British took some of the better-preserved carvings to England and are now displayed at the India House Museum at South Kensington.
Over the years, there has been a lot of encroachment on and around the Banganga Tank that has considerably altered the size, ambience, and historicity of the sites. It is due to the activism of citizen groups who were concerned about the deterioration of the tank that the Banganga complex was declared a heritage zone in April 1995 under a notification of the Urban Development Department of the Government of Maharashtra, known as the Heritage Regulations for Greater Bombay 1995.
Jagannath Mahadev Temple was founded around 1858 by a Bombay merchant, Lakshmidas Jagjivandas. The temple is noted for its mix of elements of past and present, such as use of asbestos shade over the sabhamandap, intricately carved wooden brackets and use of bathroom tiles in the garbagriha replicating the artwork of Raja Ravi Varma. The inner sanctum houses a stone lingam and is mounted with a Nagara style shikhara.
Jagannath Mahadev Temple features a turtle in front of Nandi, both facing the garbagriha. Various theories explain this arrangement seen at all Shiva temples at Walkeshwar. It is believed because a turtle can retract within its shell, it symbolizes withdrawal from the material world (moh-maya) and entering a state of samadhi (meditative consciousness).
Dwarapala holding a mace at the entrance to Vyankatesh Balaji Temple. Due to the asymmetric layout of the temple and lack of wall space at the entrance, only a lone dwarapala stands guard instead of the usual pair.