Dhobitalao (धोबीतलाव, "Washerman's Lake") is a neighborhood in the city of

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

(formerly Bombay) in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Located in the

South Mumbai South Mumbai, colloquially SoBo from South Bombay in Anglo-Indian English, administratively the Mumbai City District, is the city centre and the southernmost precinct of Greater Bombay. It extends from Colaba to Mahim and Sion neighbour ...

area at an elevation of 11 m (31 ft), it used to be a location where linen was washed. In British times,

dhobi Dhobi known in some places as Dhoba or Rajaka, Madivala is a group of community in India and the greater Indian subcontinent whose traditional occupations are washing and ironing, Cultivator, agricultural workers. They are a large community, ...

s used to wash the British soldiers clothes' here. It was filled up in the mid-17th century as the city began to expand. The lake used to be fed by a number of underground freshwater springs, which were recently uncovered while constructing the subway in the locality. A public library stands over the land that was the lake. Just off the current site, is the famous

Metro Adlabs Metro INOX Cinemas (formerly Metro Big Cinema (2008–2016), Metro Adlabs (2006–2008) and Metro Cinema (1938–2006)) is an Art Deco ''Heritage grade IIA'' multiplex Movie theatre in Mumbai, India built in 1938. It was built and originally run ...

(formerly Metro Cinema). Cowasjee-Framjee-Hall

The north-eastern part of Dhobitalao is called Cavel, from the

Koli Koli may refer to: Places * Koli, Finland, a hill in Finland * Koli National Park, a national park in Finland * Koli, Iran (disambiguation), several places in Iran * Koli Airfield, a former airfield in the South Pacific Other uses * Koli peopl ...

name ''Kolwar''. The

Kolis The Koli is an Indian caste found in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir states in India. Koli is an agriculturist caste of Gujarat but in coastal areas the ...

of this village were converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

by the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

in the 16th century. Cavel became a Christian enclave, and later immigrants of this religion, from

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

, Daman, Bassein and

Salsette Salsette Island is an island in Konkan division of the state of Maharashtra on India's west coast. Administratively known as Greater Mumbai, the city district of Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban District, Mira Bhayander and a portion of Thane lie wit ...

settled here. Other Christian enclaves in Dhobitalao are Sonapur and Dabul. Dhobitalao is home to the highest number of kudds, Goan clubs that house migrants from Goan villages seeks opportunities and employment in Mumbai.

Institutions

* St Xavier's College * St. Xavier's High School, Fort * GT Hospital * ESIS Hospital

References

{{Reflist
Dhobitalao
Neighbourhoods in Mumbai