In this vast country of India, you get to see more than one building, whose beauty and features have made their mark around the world. Today in this episode we are going to talk about India's most famous 5-star hotel Taj which is also remembered for the 26/11 attack. It is also the country's first trademark building. 'Taj' is the biggest brand of Tata Group's Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL). Whenever you have been to Mumbai, you must have seen this hotel from outside. On visiting Mumbai, people stand outside it and get their photos taken. There are many interesting things about this hotel that you hardly know about. The story of how the Taj Hotel located in Mumbai came to be is very interesting and interesting. So let's know about it...

Was named after the Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal Palace, which opened to 17 guests on December 16, 1903, was the dream of Jamshedji Tata, the founder of the Tata Group. Jamshedji Tata had many visions for modern India. Among them 'Taj Mahal Palace' is the only dream which was fulfilled during his lifetime. The hotel is named after the 'Taj Mahal', which is located in the city of Agra. The hotel is made up of two separate buildings: the Taj Mahal Palace and the Tower. The Taj Mahal Palace was built in the early 20th century. While the tower opened in 1973. Hotel Taj Mahal Palace was started by Indian architects Sitaram Khanderao Vaidya and DN Mirza. The hotel was built on his design. However, after the death of Sitaram, the English architect W A Chambers got it completed.

Why was Hotel Taj built?
First of all, it is important to know why Hotel Taj was built. It is said that once JRD Tata had gone to Britain. Being an Indian, he was not allowed to stay in the Watson Hotel there. Only white people had entered this hotel. Just then he decided that he would build such a hotel, which not only Indians, but people from all over the world would be able to see. But historian Sharda Dwivedi tells in her book – Plague spread in Bombay during 1896, and people hesitated to come to Bombay. At such a time, to show his love for Bombay, Jamsetji built Hotel Taj.

The Taj Mahal Hotel is before the Gateway of India
The Gateway of India may be the main and ancient monument of India, but it would be surprising to know that the Hotel Taj Mahal Palace was built before this. While the Gateway of India was built in 1924.

The first hotel to have electricity
The 'Taj Hotel' standing in front of the 'Gateway of India' in Mumbai is one such huge building. The hotel opened on 16 December 1903. It was the first hotel in Mumbai (then Bombay) to have electricity. It was the first hotel in the country to have a license for a bar (Harbour Bar) and an all-day restaurant. In 1972, the country's first 24-hour coffee shop was located here. The Taj Mahal Palace itself has the first such restaurant in the country, where the first AC restaurant was built. Taj was the first hotel in the country to have an international-level discotheque. German elevators were installed. Turkish bathtubs and American company fans were installed.

The hotel room rent was Rs 13
Perhaps you would not know, but the hotel which you consider expensive, once the single room rent of that hotel used to be 10 rupees and the rent of bathroom with fan and attached bathroom was 13 rupees. Today, a traveler has to pay at least Rs 25,000 for a day's stay in the same hotel.

French chefs used to run the kitchen, and butlers were English
The Taj was the first hotel in the country to hire English butlers. For the first four decades, the hotel's kitchen was run by a French chef. Barack Obama was the first foreign head of state to stay at the hotel after the terrorist attack.

The hotel was converted into a hospital
It is said that during the First World War, India's most luxurious hotel was converted into a hospital. Let us tell you that the world war lasted from 1914-1918. About 600 beds were set up here for the treatment of the injured.