This astonishing human-powered Laundromat near Mahalaxmi Station is where scores of dhobis (laundrymen) bring dirty clothes from homes and hotels from all over the city each morning to clean them by hand in big open-air troughs. It’s an incredible sight—hundreds of thousands of items of apparel are said to pass through here each day—and what’s even more incredible is that each shirt, vest and sock finds its way back to its rightful owner, clean and folded, later that day.
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Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat
This astonishing human-powered Laundromat near Mahalaxmi Station is where scores of dhobis (laundrymen) bring dirty clothes from homes and hotels from all over the city each morning to clean them by hand in big open-air troughs. It’s an incredible sight—hundreds of thousands of items of apparel are said to pass through here each day—and what’s even more incredible is that each shirt, vest and sock finds its way back to its rightful owner, clean and folded, later that day.
Dhobi Ghat
As Chelsea Handler recently discovered, Dhobi Ghat, which is known as the laundromat for all of Mumbai, is one of the best places to meet the city’s locals. “Clothes are hanging everywhere and people are working,” Chelsea said. “But it’s a really welcoming place. Kids were running up, hugging us, and asking for pictures. Everyone has preconceptions about India—that it’s so sad, and there’s so much poverty. And that’s true. But there’s so much spirit as well. It’s infectious.”
Mumbai Dhobi Ghat
The people who work in the Dhobi Ghat pick up laundry tied up neatly in sheets, stack them up on their bicycles, take them all back to this location, wash, dry, iron, and return the clothes in the same sheet bundle in which they were taken. When I was growing up and visiting India, many of these dhobis (laundry workers) were unable to read-- meaning that when you handed them a bundle of various clothing, they returned every item to you the next day without being able to write, keep track, or catalogue who gave them which item.
The World's Largest Outdoor Laundry
Leave it to Mumbai to have the world’s largest outdoor laundry “room”. It is definitely an attraction... you’re eyes will not stop trying to see how far the laundry stations go at Dhobi Ghat. Contrary to what some might think, Dhobi Ghat is beyond functional and efficient. Hotels and restaurants from all over the city bring here their pounds (sorry, Kilos!) of laundry to be cleaned in the fresh air of Bombay! Organized in its own way,it all works in unisync, like a perfect Indian dance from from a classical Bollywood movie: ecstatic and perfectly synchronized!
The Largest Outdoor Laundromat
Organized chaos of ritual laundry in Mumbai. The open air Dhobi Ghat at Saat Rasta {seven roads} is a timeless tradition.
