Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Mumbai: How a rumoured building mistake became a modern design statement

Story goes that the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai was built back-to-front. Instead of the front facing the sea, it was the back that faced the sea. The back had a glamorous look while the front appeared relatively simple. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)

Content warning: Contains mention of suicide.

Taj Mahal Palace is undoubtedly the most famous hotel of India. The sea-facing hotel in Mumbai has played host to powerful guests, from former US President Barack Obama to Facebook’s Mark Zuckerburg. Its enduring moment for the global audience was perhaps during the 26/11 terrorist attacks but its appeal has fascinated all who have visited the grand hotel. Its creation in itself is a sequence of controversial and riveting tales.

The common story is that during the British Raj, Jamsetji Tata was humiliated when a premium Bombay hotel denied access to him – as the hotel did not permit Indians. It was an era when Indians were so routinely discriminated against that even the wealthiest did not think much of it. Tata, however, set out to build a luxurious hotel that would not follow any discriminatory policies. He acquired land on a 99-year lease and set out on his mission. It wasn’t easy. The hotel opened in 1903 at the behest of an astrologer despite not being fully functional. But over a period of time that changed and soon it became the benchmark in luxury, easily outclassing the hotel that rejected entry to Tata. On their part, the Tatas have never verified this narrative.

But there is another story, arguably even more fascinating, about the entrance of the hotel that served as an oddity to the curious observer. The hotel appeared to be built back-to-front. Instead of the front facing the sea, it was the back that faced the sea. The back had a glamorous look while the front appeared relatively simple.

The apparent reason for this was a communication gap. The design was done by an Italian or French architect. He returned home and left his plans in Bombay. Unfortunately, the plans were misinterpreted and the hotel was built incorrectly. In shock, the architect allegedly committed suicide. Time was, however, on the side of the hotel. Trends and styles changed. Flashy designs gave way to subtlety. In Under Seven Flags, author Eve Searle writes that “the irony of it is that today, with modern ideas of architecture, the plain façade facing the harbour is thought to be modern and beautiful, while the fancy, overdecorated back is seldom seen.”

The Tatas, however, had a chance to rectify the mistake. There was a hotel called Green’s next to the Taj. It was built even before the Taj and commanded a young and raw appeal. The Tata’s acquired that hotel, demolished it to make way for the expansion of the Taj. The four-floor Green’s Hotel was gone, and a 21-floor Taj Mahal Tower was built in 1973. The entrance, this time, was changed from a dingy street at the back to the grand entrance that is there today - along the magnificent Arabian Sea. The initial mess-up was rectified.

It's a compelling story. There’s just one problem. It may not be true. The Tatas deny this story. There is a wide constituency which believes that the initial execution was indeed correct. And that the architect was a Britisher who actually did not commit suicide. I suspect there could be merit to that assertion. The Tatas had owned the next-door Green’s Hotel since 1904 after buying it for INR 3.65 lakh. If the Taj entrance was indeed such a terrible error in execution, the rectification could have happened much earlier than it did in 1973. (Admittedly business was tough in the initial years, with prohibition only compounding the stress.)

Does any of it matter today? Not really. The hotel seems to be going from strength to strength. Every wealthy visitor to Mumbai has that hotel on their list of places to stay. The hotel’s legendary journey captures the best of India: where humiliation only raises the ambition, an ‘apparent’ error is rectified through ingenious means and an indomitable spirit exists to rebound even against the greatest odds.