Washermanpet is located in northern part of Chennai

Chennai

Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...

, a city situated on the east coast of the southern India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. The name comes from the fact that it used to be the washermen's enclave in Chennai, where many of the city's dhobi

Dhobi

The Dhobi are a caste group found in Pakistan and India who specialize in washing clothes. The word Dhobi is derived from Hindi word dhona, which means to wash. They are found throughout North India, Gujarat, Maharashtra as well as the Punjab province of Pakistan, where they are known as Gazar...

 ghats

Ghats

As used in many parts of South Asia, the term ghat refers to a series of steps leading down to a water body, usually a holy river. In Bengali-speaking regions, this set of stairs can lead down to something as small as a pond or as large as a major river....

used to be located. Prior to the development of T.Nagar and Purasawalkam, Washermanpet acted as the textile business hub of Chennai. It is also famous for jewellery shops and match box industries.

External links

• North Chennai's evolution: From squalor to high-rises, The Times of India

• MSN Map