Taj Palace hotel reopening in Mumbai: Fortress for a week, landmark forever

No end of aesthetic appeal can disguise the fact that buildings are eventually dead blocks of concrete contrived with embellishments. Then again, once in maybe a hundred years, there’s this one structure that endures and rises over a crisis so deliberately destructive that it's impossible to gaze into its recesses without thinking that, impossibly, there is a spirit holding it together, transcending violence, emotional turbulence and multiple generations. 

The old wing of the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower in Mumbai ticks all these boxes, having filled its space with the most contrasting of memories, all of which endear it to the city it sits in and, we know now, protects. 

The Taj Palace was battered one night late in 2008 but spat out the perpetrators, was boarded up, privately wept and healed and opened its corridors to the world again on August 15 2010, India's 63rd year of Independence and the hotel's 107th year. 

The Taj Mahal Palace hotel's heritage wing reopens in Mumbai.

'She is The Taj'

'She is The Taj' is an advertorial refrain that two decades of guests have warmed to. Those whose lives this concrete building saved during that infamous night of November 26, 2008 and those that sat numb, watching her domed history burn on the television, together, well up at the thought of the pain she cannot communicate. All she can do is embrace and protect and continue on because the instinct for hospitality is innate within her walls and her people. One fateful evening for 12 hours, I felt like my life depended on it.

It in fact did, and is the only reason I’m still here putting it all down in cold print.

Having spent 12 hours inside the Taj's recesses, tightly protected by selfless and unflappable employees some of whom gave their lives so the guests could live, there is an indelible connection that co-survivors have to the hotel. 

The palace wing is now open again. The twin structures of palace and tower have been fused together by the name, The Taj Mahal Palace, wiping away any distinction between the architectural motif of pre-independence India and it’s modern, taller extension. After decades, this building is no longer called the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower.

The evening the palace re-opened

"If there is will in your soul and courage in your character, adversity quivers a bit. Because will is a different animal. Will looks adversity squarely in the eye. And makes it blink," so resonated actor Amitabh Bachchan's baritone through the Crystal Room of The Taj Mahal Palace as the gathered media took in a sense of history and watched old pictures of the dapper and yet most authentically vintage interiors of the heritage wing rooms and suites. 

The landmark heritage wing re-opened to the city on August 15 -- all 285 rooms, including 42 suites. This building has seen off many monsoons and hosted events that have defined India's modern place in the world. The approach that underlay the overhaul was to further reinforce this legacy. 

With nothing short of three world class architects -- Wilkes Sdn Bhd from Kuala Lumpur, Bio Lissoni from the United Kingdom, BAMO from San Francisco, and U.K. and Singapore based James Park Associates -- it limns influences of the Moorish, Oriental and Florentine styles. Showcasing contemporary Indian influences along with beautiful vaulted alabaster ceilings, onyx columns, graceful archways, hand-woven silk carpets, crystal chandeliers, a magnificent art collection, an eclectic collection of furniture, and a dramatic stairway.

Intrinsic structural details in the edifice were redeveloped and restored. Decay and corrosion were also treated and structural supports were strengthened. The edifice of the heritage wing has unique overlooking balconies from the second to sixth floor of the building. The wooden balusters and railing along the balconies were re-developed on the top floors according to the original designs. 

The corridors of the heritage wing consist of wooden trellis work on all the residential floors of the property. These lead up to central cut-outs that are covered on the terrace level with glass skylights, which allow the required light into these residential floors during the day. The damaged skylights have been replaced with UV and impact-resistant glass work. All through the building, floor slabs have been reset, windows have been put into place and where required Burma Teak Wood has been incorporated. The hotel will also see the addition of the most magnificent and luxurious Tata suite encompassing an area of 5,000 square feet.

The opening this month was as much an affirmation of the company's stoic front against adversity as its ability to set and raise the standard for luxury hospitality. I pay tribute to this fine, intangible monument of grace, resilience and poise. If she loves this city, it must be a great one.

Bhisham Mansukhani writes about food, travel and wine, so long as there's drinking, ahem, tasting involved.

Read more about Bhisham Mansukhani