Kamathipura
Kamathipura (also spelled Kamthipura) is
Mumbai's oldest and
Asia's largest
red-light district. The area was set up by the
British for their troops, which acted as their official "comfort zone". This small region boasted the most exotic consorts. When the British left
India, the Indian
sex workers took over.
Excerpt from the website accompanying Andrew Levine's documentary, 'The day my God died':
"I was in the middle of Kamthipura, the largest red light district in the world, and I didn't even know it. With camera in hand, my girlfriend (who is now my wife) at my side, I was assaulted by smells and snapping away. Later I learned that every vile desire a man could dream of was for sale and child virgins were the region's most noted delicacies."
Today, it is said that there are so many
brothels in the area, that there is no space for the sex workers to sit in. They hang around in the streets, solicit customers and then rent a free bed.
The deceased Mr. Linganna Puttal Pujari (1915-1999), who migrated to Bombay from Nizamabad in Andhra Pradesh in the year 1928), a prominent social worker and city and state legislator, was largely responsible for most of the civic amenities available to the residents of Kamathipura today.
*
The ironies of Kamathipura - Article by
The Hindu*
The day my God died - Documentary by
PBS*
Frontline interview with Raney Aronson*
Frontline - INDIA - The Sex Workers, 2004
