"Over a span of 120 years… what seemed like a far-fetched dream has a firm foundation in reality. The one-time white elephant adopted by Jamsetji Tata has become a crown jewel in Bombay’s and India’s cultural fabric. And is poised to continue setting new standards for Indian hospitality in the decades to come.”
"The Taj Mahal Hotel: 120 years of historic hospitality,” is the theme of the current newsletter of the Tata Central Archives, Sands of Time. The history of the iconic hotel, which has graced Bombay’s waterfront since it opened 122 years ago on December 16, 1903, is enlivened with many vintage photographs.
Clockwise, from top l: men’s hair dressing salon; horse being led up the grand
staircase to ballroom; newsletter; old Taj Mahal Hotel with Greens (at r)
From l: Simone Tata greeting the Shah of Iran, with J.R.D. Tata next to him;
Rodabeh Sawhney inaugurating staff recreation room
"Due to Jamsetji Tata’s vision and determination to have a world class hotel in sync with the city’s growth spurt, construction began in 1898,” notes the publication. Shortly thereafter the Indian Hotels Company Limited was incorporated on April 1, 1902. A 9,909 sq yd plot was acquired on Apollo Bunder on a 99-year lease from the Bombay Port Trust and a further 12,499 sq yd plot on Wodehouse Road Bridge, not far from it, to house the horses and carriages of the hotel’s patrons. This would become the Wellington Mews. The landmark near the hotel, Gateway of India, came up two decades later.
"With its opulent interiors and modern facilities, the Hotel soon became the preferred destination for India’s royal families. As it was the de facto venue for the Chamber of Indian Princes every January, rulers of India’s princely states would arrive with their entourages. Even the British royals King George V and Queen Mary had banquets hosted in their honor at the Hotel. During the independence movement Mahatma Gandhi, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sarojini Naidu visited the Hotel which was where the Governor General Louis Mountbatten made his inaugural address to leaders of the newly formed nations.
"Other notables who enjoyed the Hotel’s legendary hospitality included writers Somerset Maugham, Mark Twain, George Bernard Shaw, Hollywood director Alfred Hitchcock, musicians Ravi Shankar, The Beatles, film stars like Gregory Peck and Roger Moore, as well as the first Sherpa atop Mt Everest, Tenzing Norgay. In more recent times former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher stayed there, as did former US Presidents Bill Clinton and Barak Obama, the latter with his wife. The list is endless.
"The Taj bought the neighboring Green’s Hotel and in 1972 the new multi-storeyed Taj Inter-Continental came up in its placeconjoined with the original heritage structure of the original Hotel.”
Sherene Vakil