Sightseeing - The Taj Mahal Hotel

The Taj Mahal Hotel is located in Colaba, opposite the Gateway of India. Built by Jehangir Tata, this magnificient hotel costed Rs. 4.2 crore to build (which will now fetch you a smallish 650 sq ft one bedroom apartment in the same area!). This picture was taken from a ferry to Alibaug (a small holiday island off the coast of Bombay)



In the days of the Raj, the Watson Hotel (for those of you who know it, is now the crumbling Esplanade Mansion) was the swankiest, ritziest place in town. It was the first place to screen a movie in India, and it had a sign out front that said "Indians and Dogs not Allowed". This prompted Mr. Tata to not only build a hotel which blew the Watson out of the water, but also allowed people of all races.





He apparently said that he didn't want to stoop down to the level of the British and wanted to use it as an opportunity to teach them some manners. The front of the hotel is actually the back, which was a deliberate snub on the part of Mr. Tata since he wanted to signify that he was turning his back on the royalty which arrived from Britain through the Gateway of India. (Read more about it here. Pictures courtesy Punit Joshi, check out his blog)