It is Mumbai’s oldest and Asia’s second-largest Red-Light District. It was first settled after 1795 with the construction of causeways that connected the erstwhile seven islands of Bombay. Initially known as Lal Bazaar, it got its name from the Kamathis (workers) of other areas of the country, who were labourers on construction sites.

Dhobi Ghat (Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat) is a well-known open-air laundromat in Mumbai, India. The washers, locally known as Dhobis, work in the open to wash the clothes from Mumbai’s hotels and hospitals. There are rows of open-air concrete wash pens, each fitted with its flogging stone. Called the world’s largest outdoor laundry, Dhobi Ghat is a very popular attraction among foreign tourists.

Dharavi has an active informal economy in which numerous household enterprises employ many of the slum residents, leather, textiles and pottery products are among the goods made inside Dharavi. Most of these things are created innovatively, in very small spaces.