The Taj Mahal Hotel opened its doors on 16 December 1903. It was commissioned by Jamsetji Tata, the Parsi entrepreneur who founded the industrial group that still bears his name. It was presented as the most modern hotel in the city, with lifts and electric light. But what people tell most about it are two legends.

1The door of Watson's

The first says that Tata was refused entry to Watson's Hotel, which admitted Europeans only, and decided to build a better hotel open to everyone. It is Mumbai's most repeated story, yet no document proves it. Historians such as Charles Allen and Sharada Dwivedi question it and point to other motives: the city needed a grand hotel worthy of its harbour.

2The back-to-front hotel

The second legend claims the hotel was built the wrong way round: the architect supposedly sent the plans from afar, the builders turned them around and, on seeing the result, he took his own life. In fact the original entrance faced the landward side, as was usual, and the sea front was designed to be admired from passing ships. The building was designed by Sitaram Khanderao Vaidya and D. N. Mirza and completed by the engineer W. A. Chambers. No reliable source records any such suicide.

In November 2008 the hotel was one of the targets of the attacks that struck Mumbai. Images of its dome in flames went around the world. The Taj reopened in stages over the following months and is today also a place of remembrance.

The legends of the Taj say more about the city that admires it than about the building itself.

3What to look for

  • The great red dome, the hotel's emblem.
  • The modern tower, added in 1972.
  • The sea-facing facade, with its balconies and turrets.
Old black-and-white photograph of the Taj Mahal Hotel seen from the sea, with boats in front
The Taj Mahal Hotel seen from the harbour in the early twentieth century.

Documented

The hotel opened on 16 December 1903 on Jamsetji Tata's initiative, designed by Sitaram Khanderao Vaidya and D. N. Mirza; the tower was added in 1972.

Oral tradition

That Tata built the hotel after being turned away from Watson's, and that the architect killed himself because it was built back to front, are popular tales with no documentary support.

Sources and credits

Charles Allen and Sharada Dwivedi, 'The Taj at Apollo Bunder' (2010); Indian Hotels Company Limited, history of the Taj Mahal Palace; Gillian Tindall, 'City of Gold: The Biography of Bombay' (1982).

Photos:

  • Red dome and stone facade with balconies of the Taj Mahal Palace hotel: خوشبو, CC BY-SA 4.0.
  • Old black-and-white photograph of the Taj Mahal Hotel seen from the sea, with boats in front: Clifton & Co, Dominio público.

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