Girangaon was a name of an area now part of central Mumbai, India, which at one time had almost 130 textile mills, with the majority being cotton mills. The mills of Girangaon contributed significantly to the prosperity and growth of Mumbai during the later nineteenth century and for the transformation of Mumbai into a major industrial metropolis. Girangaon covered an area of 600 acres (2.4 km2), not including the workers' housing. The mill workers lived in a community, and they fostered a unique culture which shaped Mumbai at the turn of the twentieth century. This textile industry flourished until the early 2000s after which most of the mills were shut down, as the owners deemed them unprofitable and declared they were incapable of paying their workers' wages.
India United Mill, Parel – one of the larger mills, and also one of the few to be owned by the government
Cotton green mills, c. 1910 in front of the Taj Mahal Hotel, Colaba
Abandoned machinery at Madhusudan mills, Lower Parel
Scene from a popular 2007 play "Cotton 56 Polyester 84" by Sunil Shanbag about life in Girangaon
Parel is a neighbourhood of Mumbai. Parel used to have a number of textile mills, but these have been replaced by commercial office space development.
A view of Lower Parel's skyline
Lodha World Towers
Motilal Oswal building
An aerial view of Lower Parel