Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat

The Dhobi Ghat was laid out in 1890 and works much as it did: rows of open concrete troughs, each with a flogging stone, where dhobis wash laundry collected from hospitals, hotels, households and clubs across Mumbai, beating it against the stone, then drying it on lines stretched across the whole area and pressing it with heavy irons. The sorting system is the remarkable part, a code of marks that keeps hundreds of thousands of items separate and returns them to the right owner without computers. The standard view is from the road bridge at Mahalaxmi station, looking down over the whole field of pens.

What you actually see

• The washing pens - hundreds of concrete troughs with flogging stones.
• The drying lines - laundry stretched in rows across the whole area.
• The marking system - the codes that keep the city's washing separate.
• The bridge view - the standard overlook from Mahalaxmi station road.

When to go

November to February; work starts early and the pens are busiest from dawn to mid-morning. The monsoon makes drying impossible and much of the operation moves or stops.

Honest expectations

This is a workplace and a residential community, not an attraction; entering without a local guide is intrusive and unwelcome. Photography from the bridge is accepted, close-up photography of workers is not without asking. Touts offering tours vary widely.

Nearby

Haji Ali lies southwest; Mahalaxmi temple is west.