SSC
The Banganga Festival, a festival of classical music held at a historic water tank, takes place annually in which city?
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Answer: Option D — Mumbai
Detailed Solution
The Banganga Festival is an annual festival of Indian classical music held at the Banganga Tank in the Walkeshwar area of south Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is organised by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), usually in January, and features performances by leading vocalists and instrumentalists of Hindustani classical music.
The festival is held on the steps (ghats) around the Banganga Tank, an ancient water tank surrounded by temples and old houses, which provides a beautiful and peaceful setting for the music, especially when lit with lamps in the evening. The festival aims to preserve and promote India's classical music and the heritage of the Banganga precinct, one of the oldest parts of Mumbai.
According to legend, the Banganga Tank was created by Lord Rama. During his search for Sita, Rama stopped at this place and felt thirsty. Since there was no fresh water nearby, as the place was close to the sea, his brother Lakshmana shot an arrow (baan) into the ground, and a spring of fresh water, believed to be a branch of the river Ganga, emerged from the spot. This is why the tank is called "Banganga" (the Ganga created by an arrow), and why the festival is described as a tribute to Lord Rama. The Walkeshwar temple near the tank is also linked with this legend, as Rama is said to have made a lingam of sand (valuka) and worshipped Lord Shiva there.
The present tank was built in 1127 CE by Lakshman Prabhu, a minister in the court of the Silhara dynasty kings who ruled the region, and it was rebuilt in the 18th century. Despite being in the middle of a crowded city near the sea, the tank is fed by an underground spring of fresh water.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Pune hosts the Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Festival of classical music.
- ✗Nashik is famous for the Sula Fest and the Kumbh Mela.
- ✗Kolhapur is famous for the Mahalakshmi temple.
Quick tip
Remember: The Banganga Festival = Mumbai (Walkeshwar), Hindustani classical music, MTDC, January and the legend of Rama's arrow.
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Festivals & Fairs of India — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Festivals & Fairs of India, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the religious, harvest, tribal and cultural festivals of India, the fairs (melas) held across the country, and the states, communities and seasons linked to them. It also includes festivals listed by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage, such as Kumbh Mela and Durga Puja in Kolkata. Most questions ask which state celebrates a festival, which tribe it belongs to, or what event it marks. Harvest festivals are especially common: Pongal (Tamil Nadu), Onam (Kerala), Bihu (Assam), Lohri and Baisakhi (Punjab) and Nuakhai (Odisha). Fairs such as the Pushkar camel fair (Rajasthan) and the Sonepur cattle fair (Bihar) are also frequently tested. Revise festivals state by state. Practise the festivals and fairs questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.