After terrorists damaged parts of landmark Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, a prominent heritage body on Monday proposed to restore its architectural grandeur.
Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach) said it has the expertise to bring the heritage hotel to its original attractive shape.
Intach chairman S K Misra has written a letter in this regard to Ratan Tata, chairman of Taj Group of Hotels. “We are involved in restoration and conservation of activities of hundred-year-old monuments like forts and palaces. We can restore the original beauty of the hotel,” Misra said.
The hotel that overlooks the harbour stands as a symbol of Indian affluence and sophistication. With distinctive onion domes and pointed arches, the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel combined Moorish and Byzantine design with European ideas. Terrorists attacked the heritage hotel on November 26 and hurled grenades causing fire at several places in the hotel. Noted industrialist Jamshetji Nusserwanji Tata had commissioned the hotel at the turn of the 20th century with the intent that Bombay (now Mumbai) should have a grand hotel to help establish the city's reputation as an important financial centre.
“We are pained at see the hotel being subjected to attack by terrorists. We want to assure the Taj Group that we have the capability to repair and conserve the old grandeur of Taj Mahal,” Misra said.