In actuality, the tanks serve as a useful reservoir to help communities tide over water scarcity. It is an unwritten rule to take a dip in the temple tank before offering prayers to the presiding deities, thereby purifying oneself.
Conventional beliefs hold that the water of a temple tank is holy and has cleansing properties. Every village/town/city has a temple with a sizable water tank. Temple Tanks are an essential part of every large Hindu temple.Milk and water are symbols of fertility, absence of which can cause barrenness, sterility leading to death.Water represents the "non-manifested substratum from which all manifestations derive" and is considered by Hindus to be a purifier, life-giver, and destroyer of evil.This cycle of life is seen as a metaphor for Hinduism. The water brings life as trees and flowers bloom and crops grow. Every spring, the Ganges River swells with water as snow melts in the Himalayas.In these sacred waters, the distinctions imposed by castes are alleviated, as all sins fall away. For example, in the Ganges, the pure are thought to be made even more pure, and the impure have their pollution removed if only temporarily. Sacred rivers are thought to be a great equalizer. Sites of convergence between land and two, or even better three, rivers, carry special significance and are especially sacred. Holy places are usually located on the banks of rivers, coasts, seashores and mountains.This widespread aspiration lends itself to a reverence for water as well as the integration of water into most Hindu rituals, as it is believed that water has spiritually cleansing powers.
a striving to attain purity and avoid pollution. However, a prevailing belief that is shared by most, if not all, Hindus is the importance of physical and spiritual cleanliness and well-being. The worldwide practice of Hinduism encompasses a wide variety of beliefs.