The world's largest laundromat

This is the world’s biggest open air Laundromat. It is the scene of many films and has now transformed itself into an international sight seeing exhibit.

This is the famous Dhobi Ghat of Mumbai. It is commonly called the Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat and it is the best known among the twelve open air laundromats of Mumbai.

The dhobis or washers work in the open to wash the clothes from Mumbai's hotels and hospitals. The Dhobi Ghat comprises of  rows upon rows of open-air concrete wash pens, each fitted with its own flogging stone.

Simply called the world's largest outdoor laundry, Dhobi Ghat is a very popular attraction among foreign tourists and it is a great photo op for them. Several films have been shot here and even the venerable New York Times has carried an article on it.

Bollywood has named an entire film after the Dhobi Ghat. Its names: Of course Dhobi Ghat and it was released in January 2011. The film is also known as Mumbai diaries and it stars  Amir Khan, Prateik Babbar and others. Bollywood’s iconic film Don starring Amitabh Bachchan was shot here-a song from the film was shot at the Washermen Colony in Mahalakshmi- as was Sanjay Dutt’s Munnabhai.

Just a few months ago, Tamil actor Vijay was at the Ghat shooting for his film Thupaki and Anil Kapoor some time ago for the Hindi film Shootout at Wadala.  

The who is who of the world have come and seen the Dhobiu Ghat and gone back impressed. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, former US President  Bill Clinton, the Australian Cricket team, and others have visited the Ghat.  

Since it is located next to the Mahalakshmi Railway Station on the Western Railway network at Saat Rasta roundabout, it is also called Mahalakshmi Dhobi Ghat.

The beginnings of the Dhobi Ghat go back to the time when Europeans and Parsis made Bombay their home in the 19^th century and the city began to industrialise. It was sometime between 1885 and 1890 that the Ghat was set up and later it had 731 washing stones (Today too there are the same number).

The dhobi Ghat can easily be seen from flyover bridge of Mahalaxmi suburban railway station. 

In 2013, World Records India and World Amazing Records honored World Record Certificate to Dhobi Kalyan & Audhyogik Vikas Co- op. Society Ltd and recognized the ghat as the largest open air laundry in the world.

The Dhobi Ghat, by any stretch of imagination, is a stupendous sight. You can see hundreds of washermen or dhobis washing clothes, dipping soiled clothes in huge buckets filled with soapy suds.

The washed clothes are then dried under the open sky and you can see rows and rows of clothes hung out to dry. One hundred to one hundred and fifty clothes are hung out to dry on each rope which is tied to a bamboo pole at opposite ends.

What many do not know is that only a handful of dhobis here are involved in washing clothes of individual people or families. Most of them wash clothes which come from hotels, hospitals and commercial establishments like restaurants, guest houses.

It is a sight to see hundreds of washermen dip clothes in boiling water containing washing soda and then systematically flogged on the stone slabs set in the concrete pens. Over a lakh clothes are washed every day, ironed and handed back to the customers the same day.

After the clothes dry, they are  ironed with charcoal presses which are very heavy. These charcoal presses have wooden handles and the burning embers emit sufficient heat to press clothes.

According to the latest statistics, more than 200 families are involved in the hereditary profession. Though the Ghat has automatic washing machines, they are not used as dhobis prefer the manual way. The iconic Dhobi Ghat is getting a make over, thanks to the Mumbai Municipal Corporation.

The Dhobi Ghat is more than a century old and the washing and drying area is spread over a 23-acre plot. The flooring was done when the Britishers were ruling India.

Typically, Dhobi Ghat uses about 9.000 kilograms of wood per day and the total expenditure come to about Rs 27,000 a day. The municipality rents out over 800 washing pens (each fitted with a beating stone) to the dhobis at Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat and to make the most of them, work starts well before sunrise.

The Dhobi Ghat has fourteen doors and the  main door has the sign of the Washermen cooperative society-the  Dhobi Kalyan and Audyogik Vikas Co-operative society”, above it. Till the 1960s, a watchman used to ring the bell to signal the opening of the Ghat. The watchman also ensured that nobody stayed back at the Ghat.   

Another fairly big open air laundry or Dhobi Ghat is at Colaba. This is just off  Captain Prakash Pehe Marg. The Dhobi Ghat remains open daily 24 hours. Initially, many of the dhobis were from Uttar Pradesh. Now, you can find dhobis from Gujarati, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and even Bihar.

Today, there are slum tours and guided outings to Dhobi Ghat: All at a price of course. Take the tour of Dhobi Ghat or do it on your own if you can stand the smell of detergent.  

Cracking coconuts on heads

India is a country of strange customs and traditions and many of them may sound bizarre and uncommon. However, they are a test of a devotees faith and belief.

Though rationalists have frequently asked the Government and authorities to intervene and pout an end to such events, the Government has been cautious as it is unwilling to tread on people’s beliefs.

One such event, which perhaps is an outstanding example of a devotees firm faith in the supremacy of  God and his benevolence, can be found in a very unique ritual in two small temples in Tamil Nadu. Both follow the same unique ritual

The first temple is in Nilakottai in Dindigal district where  devotes hailing from Karumbakundar community assemble in large numbers to  pray to their deities- J Uthupatti near Chinnalapatti,  Sennappan and Karuppanasamy.

The villagers of  nearby areas and people from areas as far away as Coimbatore, Tiruchengode, Bangalore and several areas of Andhra Pradesh assemble in July every year to get their heads smashed or cracked with a coconut.

The priest of the temple, Malaiyappan, goes into a trance in the evening. Soon after, special offerings are made to the deities, after which ghee was poured on the 20-feet high flag post. Later, devotes sat in a row while the priest came to each of them in turn and smashed a coconut on their head.

Miraculously, none of the devotees suffered any discomfort or even a cut. Medical examination of the head showed no sings of a cracked skull or damage to the brain, which is common when any object, including a coconut, is smashed on a head.

 Not all who come here get their heads smashed though. It is only those devotees, including women, who have taken a vow, come forward to get their heads smashed. You see, this is the manner in which they redeem their vow.
The coconuts, broken on the villagers' heads, are taken home as Prasad and eaten, either cooked or raw.

A similar ritual is practiced during the annual Adi festival of Mahalakshmi Temple at Mettumahadanapuram, again in Tamil Nadu.

Here too, the chief priest, A Periaswamy, cracks coconuts on heads of devotees as part of  the vow taken by devotees.

While more than 750 devotees had coconuts broken on their heads last year, a handful did get injured nut there was nothing serious. This ritual is the highlight of  a two-day annual festival of the temple.

The priest first brakes coconuts on seven elders from the Kurumba and 24 Manai Telugu Chettiars. He then walked all along the main enclosure near the temple, systematically cracking coconuts on devotes who were sitting with hands folded in prayer.

The Government though had ensured that medical assistance was at hand. A medical unit with ambulance and paramedics waited outside to attend to emergency needs but though a few devotees sustained bleeding injuries, they did not get onto the ambulances or take any treatment. They preferred to apply turmeric or vibhuthi (sacred ash) on the open wound.

Here too devotes from many parts  of Tamil Nadu Kerala and Andhra Pradesh had participated and it was the 24^th successive time that the chief priest was performing the ritual.

Perisasamy’s father, Andi Poojari, had performed the task for 56 years and his grandfather, Raman, broke coconuts on heads for 62 years.

People here say there is nothing to fear when you are praying to Mahalakshmi. True, the crack makes a sound but it does not hurt, chorus devotees.

The Mahalakshmi temple was built nearly 600 years ago by the Vijayanagar Emperor, Krishna Deva Raya.

The coconut break is voluntary and any devotee, male of female, should be over 18 years of age. The locals ascribe the ritual to the British. The story goes like this. When the British were laying a railway track, the villagers opposed the alignment for a particular reason. The British refused to give in and continued. When they reached a particular spot, they found stones shaped like coconuts. The British then told the villagers that of they could break these stones over their heads, they would change the alignment.

The villagers did so and the British changed the alignment. Since then the ritual became a regular affair.

Neurosurgeons and rationalists say such a practice is dangerous and can often crack the skull and even lad to brain damage.  

The Goddess and her kitchen

It is the largest kitchen in the world. Only cooks are allowed entry. There are 32 rooms in the kitchen complex, 752 stoves and nine earthen pots.

The length of the kitchen is 150 feet. Its breadth is 100 feet and the kitchen ceiling is 20 feet high. It consists of  250 earthen ovens and 500 cooks, called Mahasuras and 300 helping hands or assistants.

The food prepared here is considered mahaprasad and it can feed any number of people and they go up to millions during festivals and other auspicious occasions.

The food here is very tasty except for a few occasions. Do you know why? The Goddess who supervises the kitchen loses interest when her husband, the presiding deity of this temple, falls sick every year or travels to another temple-an yearly ritual.

When the food being prepared displeases the Goddess, she ensures that a dog appears here or a shadow of a dog is seen. This is the signal for the food to be buried and a new course to be cooked.   

Welcome to the kitchen of Lord Jagannatha of Puri in Orissa.

Jagannatha or the Lord of the Universe, is served by one of the biggest kitchens in the world.      

No onions or garlic are used in the preparations. The kitchen is prohibited territory for everyone except the cooks. It is located at the south east of the compound called Srimandi.

Water for preparing the food is drawn from two wells called Ganga and Yamuna. The cooks and their assistants then start preparing  56 different offerings known as Mahaprasad or Abhada for Lord Jagannath, which are served to the Lord six times a day.

The food cooked here includes seven different types of rice, four types of pulses, nine types of vegetables and different sweets. Fine molasses, instead of sugar, is used for preparing sweets.

Apart from onion and garlic, other vegetables like potatoes, tomatoes and cauliflower are also not used. Every meal that is prepared has its own name such as Jagannath Ballabh, ladu, mathapuli and sarapuli.

The offering to Jagannatha starts in the morning and it is called the Gopala Vallabha Bhoga. This is a seven course breakfast - Khua, Lahuni, sweetened coconut grating, coconut water, and popcorn sweetened with sugar known as khai and curd and ripe bananas.

When Jagannatha gets hungry again at 10 a.m., he gets Sakala Dhupa.  This generally consists of 13 items including Enduri cake and Mantha puli.

His next repast is called Bada Sankhudi Bhoga consisting of Pakhala with dahi and Kanji payas. The offerings are made in the bhog mandapa about 200 feet away from the Ratna Vedi. This is called Chatra Bhog and this was first introduced by  Shankaracharya in the 8th century to help pilgrims share the temple food.

The Madhyanha dhupa come at noon and the Sandhya doopa is at night. This is at 8 p.m. The last offering to the Lord is called the Bada Simhara Bhoga

There are three types of hearths-Anna Chuli, Ahia Chuli and Pitha Chuli. All varieties of dal and curry are cooked in Ahia Chuli. The pitha chuli are made of cement and there are ten such structures in the kitchen.

The fire in the kitchen is known as Vaishnava Agni and it is never put out.

It is believed that Mahalakshmi herself cooks When Lord Jagganatha falls sick before the Ratha Yatra, Mahalakshmi cannot cook with full attention. Therefore, the food is less tasty.  Similarly, when Jagannath goes to the Gundicha Temple every year, she loses her zeal for cooking and the food does not taste so good. When the food is bad or does not taste good or if she is displeased with the preparations, a dog appears and this signals that the food should be buried and new cooking should begin. 

Of all the 56 varieties of  Naivedhyas, the most awaited is Koto Bhoga or Abada. Generally, this is offered at noon or around 1 p.m.

Well, there are other temples too which have a huge kitchen. The Balaji or Venkateshwara Temple in Tirupathi, the kitchen in Guruvayoor, the kitchen at Mantralaya, Udupi and several other temples. But none of the can match the variety and of course the legend and menu of Jagannatha. Care to try the dishes.

Head for Puri, which is well connected by both road and rail network. Accommodation is easily available. For food, why not try the prasada. Taste it and write back about how you felt. But do not go during the famous Ratha Yatra-you see Mahalakshmi cannot promise you the same taste.