Photos

Corner Façade of Taj Mahal Hotel.

The hotel's original building was commissioned by Tata and first opened its doors to guests on 16 December 1903.

It is widely believed that Jamsedji Tata decided to build the hotel after he was refused entry to one of the city's grand hotels of the time, Watson's Hotel, as it was restricted to "whites only". However, this story has been challenged by some commentators that suggest that Tata was unlikely to have been concerned with 'revenge' against his British adversaries. Instead they suggest that the Taj was built at the urging of editor of The Times of India who felt a hotel "worthy of Bombay" was needed.

The original Indian architects were Sitaram Khanderao Vaidya and D. N. Mirza, and the project was completed by an English engineer, W. A. Chambers. The builder was Khansaheb Sorabji Ruttonji Contractor who also designed and built its famous central floating staircase. The cost of construction was £250,000 (£127 million today).

During World War I the hotel was converted into a hospital with 600 beds.
It is worth noting that the cost of construction in 1903 was 250,000 pounds versus its worth today which is one 127,000,000 pounds. Cheap labor was available in India at that time like in other parts of the world.
The above information is courtesy of Wikipedia and I want to add my own observation which is below.
After looking at the structure my tribute went to the architects and the cheap laborers who did a wonderful job on this architectural landmark of India. It continues to make the owners generation which for a long time. Thanks for sharing.