Mumbai: Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat
‘Dhobis’ are laundry workers, an occupational caste found throughout India and Pakistan. In Mumbai, their main place of work is the Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat, reputedly the world’s largest open-air laundry.
The Dhobi Ghat is a series of over 700 concrete pens, each with its own flogging stone. From before dawn the place is a hive of activity. Now serving largely the hotel and hospital industry, rather than individual households, around 5,000 Dhobi Wallahs are said to work the ghats, with some 200 families making their homes in this ‘open-air factory’. Three-quarters of a million items are said to be laundered here daily. Like their more famous neighbours, the Dabba wallahs, the Dobhi wallahs use a code system to ensure that every item is returned to its correct owner once washed, beaten, spun dry, ironed and finally baked in the South Indian sun.
Although an extremely traditional way of life, with the role still passed down through families, new technology is slowly making its way to the ghats, with industrial washing machines using caustic chemicals installed next to the beating stones and wood-fired irons.
These photographs were made over a series of visits to the Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat between March 2010 and September 2011.
Read MoreThe Dhobi Ghat is a series of over 700 concrete pens, each with its own flogging stone. From before dawn the place is a hive of activity. Now serving largely the hotel and hospital industry, rather than individual households, around 5,000 Dhobi Wallahs are said to work the ghats, with some 200 families making their homes in this ‘open-air factory’. Three-quarters of a million items are said to be laundered here daily. Like their more famous neighbours, the Dabba wallahs, the Dobhi wallahs use a code system to ensure that every item is returned to its correct owner once washed, beaten, spun dry, ironed and finally baked in the South Indian sun.
Although an extremely traditional way of life, with the role still passed down through families, new technology is slowly making its way to the ghats, with industrial washing machines using caustic chemicals installed next to the beating stones and wood-fired irons.
These photographs were made over a series of visits to the Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat between March 2010 and September 2011.
