Taj Mahal Palace & Tower

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A view of the hotel at night

The Taj Mahal Palace is a famous and prestigious hotel located in the Colaba district of Mumbai, India, next to the Gateway of India. It boasts a distinguished list of former guests including Mick Jagger, Prince Charles, The Beatles, Bill Clinton and Jacqueline Onassis.

From historical and architectural point of view, The Taj Mahal Palace and the Tower are two distinct buildings, built at different times and in different architectural designs. The "Tower" refers to the Taj Intercontinental.

[edit] History

The Taj Mahal Palace was commissioned by Jamsetji Tata and first opened its doors to guests on December 16, 1903. Tata allegedly decided to build the luxurious hotel after he was refused entry to one of the city's grand hotels of the time, Watson's, as it was restricted to 'whites only'. The original Indian architects were Sitaram Khanderao Vaidya and D N Mirza, but the project was completed by the English engineer W A Chambers. During World War I, the hotel was converted into a 600-bed hospital.

The side of the hotel seen from the harbor is actually its rear. The front faces away to the west. There is a widespread misconception that the architects' building plans were confused by the builder so that he built it facing away from the harbor. However, this is false, as the hotel was deliberately built facing inland rather than to the harbor. This was probably a deliberate snub to the English king by Jameshedji Tata due to nationalist feelings. Five decades ago, the old front was closed off, and access is since then through the seaside (former rear)^{[citation needed]}.

There used to be a Green's Hotel^[1] at the Apollo Bunder, which was purchased by the Taj Mahal Hotel. It was at the Green's Hotel, that a small group of pro-Indian Goans (largely employees of the Indian state and communists) assembled and formed the Goan Liberation Council demanding that Portugal cede Goa to India, in the 1950s. This was done at the instigation of Jawaharlal Nehru, and funded by the Kamani Group of Companies. Later, the Green's hotel was demolished and in its place the present Taj Mahal Intercontinental Hotel was constructed^{[citation needed]}.