In the city of Mumbai in the period from 1880 to 1890, many big constructions were done. The Grand Victoria Terminus, the Municipal Corporation building and the Churchgate headquarters of the B.B. & C.I. Railways, now Western Railways were built in this period. But there was no big hotel worthy of the growing city. Hotel Taj Mahal Palace at Mumbai was built by Mr.Jamsetji Tata, in the year 1903, out of his own personal funds; the hotel was not built as a commercial venture and it is a gift to the city of Mumbai by Mr.Tata. It is notable that Hotel Taj Mahal Palace was Bombay’s first public building to be lit by electricity.

The world-renowned personalities such as, Mr.Somerset Maugham,Duke Ellington, Lord Mountbatten and Mr.Bill Clinton have stayed in Hotel Taj Mahal Palace. The hotel was featured in a hundred books, including Louis Bromfield’s One Night in Bombay, which is centred on the Hotel Taj Mahal Palace.

Before the Gateway of India was built in 1924, the Hotel Taj Mahal Palace had been the first view of the city of Bombay to ships sailing into the harbour. Even now, with many more tall buildings on the skyline, the hotel engages immediate attention.

It is very sad that a horrific terrorist attack has ravaged the Mumbai’s most-loved symbols and landmarks and taken the lives of many of its dedicated staff and some foreign travelers who stayed at Taj Mahal Hotel Palace on 26th November 2008 .
Tag India