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City of the kaali-peeli

Mumbai

Black-and-yellow taxis, known as kaali-peeli, are the moving colour of India's largest city.

Panoramic view of Taj Palace Hotel and Taj Tower with the iconic Gateway of India in the background, overlooking the Arabian Sea in Mumbai
Photo: iMahesh, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Why Mumbai is black and yellow

Mumbai's taxis are black below and yellow on top. People call them kaali-peeli, simply black-yellow in Hindi. For decades most were Premier Padminis, a small Indian-built car of Italian design. The last of those left the roads in 2023, but newer cars keep the same two colours. Many drivers decorate the ceiling and seats with printed fabric, which has become a small art form of its own. Autorickshaws in the suburbs repeat the scheme. The older city adds stone colours: the Gothic buildings of the Fort area are built of grey basalt and yellow Malad stone. At night the curve of Marine Drive is lit in a line called the Queen's Necklace.

Black and yellow#F2C200Taxi black#1B1B1BBasalt grey#6E6A64Arabian Sea blue#4F7C96

Values are fair approximations of what the eye sees there, not measurements.

Colours tied to Mumbai

YellowA primary colour between green and orange, seen in sunlight, leaves, and pigmentsBlackThe colour seen when no visible light is present or all light is absorbed
About this page

Written by the Rang desk with AI assistance. Background: "Mumbai" on Wikipedia. If you know Mumbai and we have it wrong, tell us.

More colour cities

All colour cities
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ The Blue CityJodhpurOld-city houses washed in blue crowd the foot of Mehrangarh Fort, on the edge of the Thar Desert.๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ The Pink CityJaipurThe walled city wears a dusty terracotta pink, first painted on for a royal visit in 1876 and kept ever since.๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ The White CityUdaipurWhite palaces and whitewashed houses stand around lakes in the Aravalli hills of southern Rajasthan.๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ The Golden CityJaisalmerA fort and town built of yellow sandstone that glows like honey at sunset, deep in the Thar Desert.๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ City of saffron and lightVaranasiSaffron robes, marigold garlands and oil lamps colour the river steps of one of the oldest living cities.๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Town of Holi coloursVrindavanFor Holi the temple town of Krishna's childhood fills with clouds of pink, yellow and green powder.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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