Colorful chaos at the Dhobi Ghat, Mumbai, India
The Dhobi Ghat has been called the world's largest unmechanized outdoor laundry. It consists of rows and rows of open-air concrete wash pens, each fitted with its own flogging stone. The washers are called Dhobis and they wash most of the laundry from Mumbai’s major hotels and hospitals. More than 730 dhobis and their families live and work in the Dhobi Ghat, washing an average of 1 million articles of clothing per day. Work in a Dhobi Ghat is generally considered a hereditary occupation, passed down from generation to generation. The area extends across several city blocks and comprises an interlocking series of winding alleys and workrooms. The laundry workers reside in shanties that are permeated with the smell of chemicals from the nearby wash basins. Drying garments hang from clotheslines strung across every inch of space.
Size: 3600px × 2400px
Location: Dhoti Ghat, Mumbai, India
Photo credit: © Terry Allen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: blue, clothes, colorful, concrete, dhobi, dry, flogging, ghat, hanging, high, india, laundry, lines, mumbai, outdoor, pens, rises, sheets, shirts, stones, tarpaulins, tubs, wash, washing, water
