The Taj Mahal Palace | |
---|---|
General information | |
Location | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
Coordinates | 18°55′19″N72°50′00″E / 18.9220°N 72.8333°E |
Opening | 16 December 1903 |
Owner | Taj Hotels |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 6 floors in The Taj Mahal Palace, 20 floors in the Taj Mahal Tower |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Sitaram Khanderao Vaidya, D.N. Mirza |
Main contractor | Shapoorji Pallonji Group |
Other information | |
Number of rooms | 600 |
Number of suites | 44 |
Number of restaurants | 9 |
Website | |
Official website |
The Taj Mahal Palace is a heritage, five-star, luxury hotel in the Colaba area of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, situated next to the Gateway of India. Built in the Indo-Saracenic style, it opened in 1903 as the Taj Mahal Hotel and has historically often been known simply as "The Taj". The hotel is named after the Taj Mahal, which is located in the city of Agra approximately 1,050 kilometres (650 mi) from Mumbai. It has been considered one of the finest hotels in the East since the time of the British Raj. The hotel was one of the main targets in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Part of the Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, the hotel has 560 rooms and 44 suites and is considered the flagship property of the group; it employs 1,600 staff. The hotel is made up of two different structures: the Taj Mahal Palace and the Tower, which are historically and architecturally distinct from each other (the Taj Mahal Palace was built in 1903; the Tower was opened in 1972).
The hotel has received many notable guests, from presidents to captains of industry and movie stars. [1] [2]
The Taj Mahal Hotel was commissioned by Jamsetji Tata and opened its doors to guests on 16 December 1903.
An oft-repeated story concerning the reasoning behind the construction of the hotel was Tata being refused admission into Watson's Hotel, as it was reserved for Europeans. The validity of this has been challenged by writer Charles Allen, who wrote that Tata was unlikely to care about such a slight to the extent that he would construct a new hotel. Instead, Allen writes, the Taj was built at the urging of editor of The Times of India who felt a hotel "worthy of Bombay" was needed and as a "gift to the city he loved" by Tata. [3]
The original Indian architects were Sitaram Khanderao Vaidya and D. N. Mirza, and the project was completed by an English engineer, W. A. Chambers. The builder was Khansaheb Sorabji Ruttonji Contractor, who also designed and built its famous central floating staircase. The cost of construction was £250,000 (£127 million in 2008 prices). [4]
Originally, the main entrance was on the land-facing side, where the pool now sits. [5]
The original clientele were mainly the Europeans, the Maharajas and the social elites. Many world-renowned personalities from all fields have since stayed there, from Somerset Maugham and Duke Ellington to Lord Mountbatten and Bill Clinton.
When it opened in 1903, the Taj Mahal Hotel was the first in India to have electricity, American fans, German elevators, Turkish baths and English butlers. Later, it also had the city's first licensed bar, India's first all-day restaurant, and India's first discotheque, Blow Up. [6] Initially in 1903, it charged ₹13 for rooms with fans and attached bathrooms, and ₹20 with full board. During World War I, the hotel was converted into a military hospital with 600 beds.
Between 1915 and 1919, work proceeded at Apollo Bundar, to reclaim the land behind the hotel where the Gateway of India was built in 1924. The Gateway of India soon became a major focal point in Bombay.
Rattanbai Petit spend the last days of her life at the hotel, and passed away there in 1929, at the age of 29. [7]
By 1966, the Taj Mahal Hotel had become neglected and run-down, perhaps as a result of losing the British customers after Indian independence. [8] The Taj Mahal Hotel was home to legendary jazz musician Micky Correa, "The Sultan of Swing", from 1936 to 1960. [9] [10]
Management of the Taj Mahal Hotel was franchised to Pan Am's Inter-Continental Hotels division in 1972 [11] and it was renamed The Taj Mahal Inter-Continental, with the new tower wing opening that same year. [12]
Known today as The Taj Mahal Tower, [13] it was designed jointly by Daraius Batliwala and Rustom Patell, with the latter having a greater focus later on. [14] The Tower was built on the site of the historic Green's Hotel, constructed as flats in 1890, and operated by Tata as a hotel from 1904 until its demolition to build the Tower. [15]
In the 1970s, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces was reorganised. The company built new properties and converted palaces into heritage hotels. In 1980, the chain expanded overseas. The franchise agreement with Inter-Continental ended in 1995 and the hotel again became the Taj Mahal Hotel.
In 2003, in honour of the hotel's centennial, it was renamed The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower. [16]
The hotel received extensive international exposure in 2008 during a terrorist attack and reopened after extensive repairs.
Taj Mahal Palace Hotel was specifically chosen by Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terror group who attacked multiple targets, [17] for an attack intended to strike "a blow against a symbol of Indian wealth and progress". [18] The hotel was attacked on 26 November 2008, during which material damage occurred, including the destruction of the hotel's roof in the hours following. [19] Hostages were taken during the attacks, and at least 167 people were killed, including many foreigners. The casualties were mostly Indian citizens, although westerners carrying foreign passports were singled out. [20] Indian commandos killed the terrorists barricaded in the hotel, to end the three-day battle on 29 November. [21] At least 31 died at the Taj. Approximately 450 people were staying in the Taj Mahal Palace and Hotel at the time of the siege. [22] The attack was planned using information compiled by David Headley, a Pakistani-American, who had stayed at the hotel multiple times.
Soon after this on 30 November, Tata chairman Ratan Tata said in an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria that they had received advance warning of the attacks and that some countermeasures had been taken. These may have been relaxed before the attack, but in any case were easily sidestepped by the operatives. [23]
The less-damaged sections of the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel reopened on 21 December 2008. It took several months to rebuild the popular heritage section of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. [24]
Hillary Clinton visited Mumbai in July 2009, aiming to deepen India – United States relations and stayed at the Taj hotel; she also attended a commemoration event. She said, "I wanted to send a message that I personally and our country is in sympathy and solidarity with the employees and the guests of the Taj who lost their lives … with the people of Mumbai." [25] On 15 August 2010, India's Independence Day, the Taj Mahal Palace was reopened after restoration. The cost of the restoration of the hotel so far has been 1.75 billion rupees. The palace wing has been restored and offers new hotel services. [26]
In March 2010, as restoration work neared completion, the hotel dropped the word "Tower" from its name and became The Taj Mahal Palace. [27]
On 6 November 2010, U.S. president Barack Obama became the first foreign head of state to stay at the Taj Mahal Palace after the attacks. In a speech from the terrace of the hotel, Obama said that "the Taj has been the symbol of the strength and the resilience of the Indian people." [28] The attack on the hotel is portrayed in the 2018 movie Hotel Mumbai .
In 2017, the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel acquired an image trademark, [29] the first building in the country to secure intellectual-property-right protection for its architectural design. [30] [31] [32]
The Gateway of India is an arch-monument completed in 1924 on the waterfront of Mumbai (Bombay), India. It was erected to commemorate the landing of George V for his coronation as the Emperor of India in December 1911 at Strand Road near Wellington Fountain. He was the first British monarch to visit India.
Colaba is a part of the city of Mumbai, India. It is one of the four peninsulas of Mumbai while the other three are Worli, Bandra and Malabar Hill. During Portuguese rule in the 16th century, the island was known as Kolbhat. After the British took over the island in the late 17th century, it was known as Kolio.
South Mumbai, colloquially SoBo from South Bombay in Indian English, administratively the Mumbai City District, is the city centre and the southernmost precinct of Greater Bombay. It extends from Colaba to Mahim and Sion neighbourhoods, and comprises the city's main business localities, making it the wealthiest urban precinct in India. Property prices in South Mumbai are by far the highest in India and among the highest in the world.
The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum in Agra, India, built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.
Watson's Hotel, now known as the Esplanade Mansion, located in the Kala Ghoda area of Mumbai (Bombay), is India's oldest surviving cast iron building. It is probably the oldest surviving multi-level fully cast-iron framed building in the world, being three years earlier than the Menier Chocolate Factory in Noisiel, France, which are both amongst the few ever built. Named after its original owner, John Watson, the cast and wrought iron structure of the building was prefabricated in England, and it was constructed between 1867 and 1869.
Taj Hotels is a chain of luxury hotels and a subsidiary of the Indian Hotels Company Limited, headquartered in Mumbai, India. Incorporated by Jamsetji Tata in 1902, the company is a part of the Tata Group. The company employed over 20,000 people in the year 2010. The company has been ranked as the World's Strongest Hotel Brand in 2022 and India's Strongest Brand as per Brand Finance Hotels 50 Report 2022 and India 100 Report 2020, 2022 and 2023.
The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) is an Indian hospitality company that manages a portfolio of hotels, resorts, jungle safaris, palaces, spas and in-flight catering services. The company is part of India's Tata Group. IHCL was founded in 1902 by Jamsetji Tata and is headquartered in Mumbai where its flagship hotel Taj Mahal Palace Hotel is also located.
Colaba Causeway, officially known as Shahid Bhagat Singh Road, is a commercial street, and a major causeway or land link between Colaba and the Old Woman's Island in the city of Mumbai, India.
The history of Mumbai during the 21st century covers the Indian city of Mumbai in the 21st century.
The 2008 Mumbai attacks were a series of terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant Islamist organisation from Pakistan, carried out 12 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks lasting four days across Mumbai. The attacks, which drew widespread global condemnation, began on Wednesday 26 November and lasted until Saturday 29 November 2008. A total of 175 people died, including nine of the attackers, with more than 300 injured.
The Leopold Cafe and Bar is a restaurant and bar on Colaba Causeway, in Colaba area of Mumbai, India, located across from the Colaba Police station. It was one of the first sites attacked in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
This is a timeline of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The architecture of Mumbai blends Gothic, Victorian, Art Deco, Indo-Saracenic & Contemporary architectural styles. Many buildings, structures and historical monuments remain from the colonial era. Mumbai, after Miami, has the second largest number of Art Deco buildings in the world.
Shapoorji Pallonji & Company Private Limited, trading as Shapoorji Pallonji Group, is an Indian conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. It operates in construction, real estate, textiles, engineered goods, home appliances, shipping, publications, power, and biotechnology. The company was headed by a grandson of founder Pallonji Mistry, also named Pallonji Mistry, until 2012, when he announced his retirement and the succession of his son, Shapoor Mistry.
Jamshedji Nusserwanji Tata was a pioneering Indian industrialist who founded the Tata Group, India's biggest conglomerate company. Named the greatest philanthropist of the century by several polls and ranking lists, he established the city of Jamshedpur. He is regarded as the Father of Indian Industry.
Rayaroth Kuttambally Krishna Kumar was an Indian business executive who was the director of Tata Sons. He was a member of Tata Administrative Services and served as a trustee of Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust, which hold a 66 per cent stake in Tata Sons. He played a significant role in several acquisitions by Tata Group, including the £271 million buy-out of Tetley in 2000, which made Tata Global Beverages the second-largest tea company in the world. The Government of India awarded him the fourth-highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 2009 for his contributions to Indian trade and industry.
Taj Mahal is a 2015 French-Belgian thriller drama film written and directed by Nicolas Saada. It was screened in the Horizons section at the 72nd edition of the Venice Film Festival. The story of the film makes explicit reference to the 2008 Mumbai attacks which have concerned The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.
Iftikhar M. Kadri is an Indian architect, civil engineer, and founder of I.M.K Architects in the city of Mumbai, India. He has been a key figure in contributing to world renowned landmark buildings in several cities of India, United States, Russia, Middle East, Hong Kong & among others around the world.
Mumbai Diaries is an Indian Hindi-language medical thriller television series. It is set in the emergency room of a government hospital, focusing on the challenges faced by medical staff and first responders during times of crises. It was released on Amazon Prime Video on 9 September 2021. The series was created and directed by Nikkhil Advani, along with Nikhil Gonsalves. The filming of the series took place in real locations that were part of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, including Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Gateway of India, and Leopold Café.
Shiavax Dhanjibhoy Chavda was an Indian painter, illustrator and muralist. Known for his dynamic line drawings and paintings, Chavda's work mainly showcased the dancers and musicians from India and Southeast Asia.
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