Dhoby Ghaut

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Dhoby Ghaut is a place in Singapore that often refers to the Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station, a major interchange station on the Mass Rapid Transit of Singapore. Dhoby Ghaut or Dhobi Ghat, literally means washing place in Hindi, from Dhobi - literally meaning washerman or one that does laundry and Ghat - generically meaning a large open space. As a place, Dhoby Ghaut lies along the southern end of Orchard Road.

The old YMCA building at Dhoby Ghaut was used by the Japanese for interrogation during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore. The Orchard Presbyterian Church in the area was established by Scottish settlers in 1877.

The Atrium@Orchard is a retail and office development, comprising two office blocks and retail space on the ground floor, located just above the Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station.

[edit] Etymology

Typically in India, Dhobis call on regular clients, collect their dirty clothes and then take them to the Dhobi Ghats. The name is reminiscent of the famous Dhobi Ghat of Mumbai, India, which has rows of concrete wash pens, each with its own flogging stone. The Dhobi sloshes dirty linen into a soapy water mixture, thrashing them with the flogging stones, and then puts the linen into huge vats of starch. After which being dried, they are ironed and delivered to the owners. This is however not a standard practice of dhobis in general. In a large number of areas in the country, dhobis have migrated to washing machines and dryers, using the modern detergents.

In the more rural parts in India, clothes are taken to the nearest river or canal, preferably one with huge rocks or boulders on the banks and then flogged on these. They are then spread out over the nearest grassy land, and dried.