One of the more famous temples in and around Mumbai is Walkeshwar Temple, which sits on the highest point of the city, near the tony neighborhood of Malabar Hill. Dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, legend holds that the ever-heroic Lord Rama, in hot pursuit of Ravanna, the demon king who’d kidnapped his wife, paused at this spot to construct a “linga of sand”—essentially an idol that represented the great Shiva, to whom Lord Rama prayed for help. The name “Walkeshwar” comes from the Sanskrit “Valuka Iswar,” which literally translates to “idol made of sand."

Legend also holds that while he was waiting for help to arrive, Rama grew thirsty and shot an arrow into the ground, from which fresh water sprang. Though actually a subterranean spring, for a long time it was believed that Rama’s magic arrow “brought the Ganges”—and so the tank constructed to contain the water in 1127 was called the “Banganga Tank”— “baan” meaning “arrow,” and "ganga" standing in for "Ganges." The Tank, which has shown up in many a Bollywood film, is the oldest standing structure in Mumbai. Read Less