Scale and grafitti at Khotachi Wadi

When I was a fresh architecture grad, living in Mumbai, the word 'Khotachi wadi' cropped up frequently among my architect friends. It remained a mystery to me , until recently , when I finally visited it. It is a heritage wada situated right in the heart of Girgaum. After much difficultly , I managed to locate it, asking several shop owners and pedestrians.

Quintessential photograph of the lane  :)

It is 'A village in the City' , as described in this blog. Taking a small lane from a very busy street , it seemed to me that I had reached a different world, altogether - quaint , brightly painted wooden houses situated on either side of narrow streets. 

Colours abound in this little piece of architectural history. 

The scale was so different from the buildings I had just crossed in South Mumbai. It was small, cosy and intimate. The houses looked into each other , seemed like everyone knew everyone else here.

Scale is intimate and cozy

Old wooden houses lines the narrow street

Lots of the walls and 'nukkad' (street corner) had interesting graffiti on it , some painted , some were mosaics. 

The mosaic in the previous pic in close-up 

Khotachi Wadi spelled differently :) 

Beautiful graffiti on one of the walls, and a bench 

The locality was quiet and laid back (and clean ). Lots of brightly painted benches, here and there..  .What a refreshing change from the rushed (and dirty) metropolis it is located in ! 

A quiet street corner with a bench

The old house enjoys an afternoon siesta

The place reminded me a lot of a similar vada I had visited in Goa, a couple of years back, called 'Fountainhas'. ( I hope to do a post on that someday soon). 

There are lots of posts which tell you about the history of Khotachi Wadi (Most of them copied from here and there). Since, I myself did not do any research on the history of the place, I won't post anything about it. If you are interested, you may visit here and here , for some more insight on the houses, lanes and the people. Do read the comments , lots of little stories and anecdotes there. Sadly, I also found this link , which talks about another old house been torn down to create a new age monstrosity ...