Kerala: Second Quarter - Kochi

I have a humongous description of the entire trip, so i thought it would be a good idea to break it into parts. We had four stops at Kerala, so I shall dedicate one post per place. Now I shall talk about Kochi, the port city, which is a lot like Mumbai.

December 26, 2012

By around seven we arrived at our hotel in Kochi. It’s a place called The Wood Manor in M.G Road. This road is an equivalent to Mumbai’s Linking road, which is also a shopper’s paradise. Branded shops like Nike, Levi’s, Fast track, Woodland were amongst this shopping area for the Kochi residents. Two-three storied showrooms were kept specially for gold jewelry. Only God can explain South Indian obsession with gold.

Christmas spirit outside Grand Hotel

We went for dinner at Grand Hotel at someone’s recommendation. The place is known for its fish preparation. Karimeen* is supposed to be the speciality of this place. Maybe it wasn’t our day, because we got a malnourished karimeen. I had to hunt for some flesh among the bones they served us. We had to order fish curry as well to fill our stomachs.

Tomorrow we are visiting a Jewish synagogue, Dutch palace and Cherrai beach. Adios for now. 

December 27,2012.

At around seven, my mom woke me up from my blissful sleep. I went about my morning regiment and went down for breakfast. This place served a good variety for breakfast including fresh fruits.

Jewish street

A Jewish street led us to the Paradesi Synagogue. The street was filled with custom made Indian shops for foreigners. I caught fancy of these salwar like pants many foreigners wore, consisting of Indian prints, mantras or elephant design. I bought two for myself and a nice stole for my aunt.

Paradesi Synagogue

The synagogue was like any other home of God, peaceful and serene. There was a pulpit of gold right in the centre for the priest to conduct holy sermons. A few tablets were erected in someone’s honour. The floor had mosaic design.

Judaism made itself known around 900 B.C in Kerala. King Solomon’s people had come to the port of Cranganore for trade. Some of them settled down here and inspired few Keralites to convert to the religion. The king allowed and promoted the Jews and other religions to coexist in peace. It continued this way until the Portuguese invaded Kerala. Currently 90 Jews live in Kerala, 30 of them in Kochi who come every Sunday for service.

Street leading to Dutch Palace

We went to the Dutch Palace, which was just nearby. The place by itself isn’t that huge or attractive. It has a quadrangle structure with a Vishnu Temple in the middle. The temple was closed. The walls were old and charred.

The interior had paintings depicting the story of Ramayana and other Hindu mythology. The Royal Family’s history was written as well. The Varma dynasty ruled over the state of Kochi. I remember coming across atleast half a dozen kings by the name Rama Varma. Probably they honoured Lord Rama too much. The rulers valued education and maintained good foreign relations. You can see the Portuguese and Dutch influence in this place.

The royal women weren’t confined to just strolling in the garden, being attended by an army of servants. They participated in the administration and decision making of the family. The heirloom concept is an unusual one here. Instead of the king’s offspring, his sister’s offspring enjoys the privilege of being the next kin.

If you reside in either Mumbai or Dubai, you must have definitely come across one Nair friend. Nairs were the warriors of the olden days. They mastered Kalaripayatu, Kerala’s own form of martial art. Both the sexes learnt it till puberty, but only a handful of women went on to master it throughout their life. However women were strong enough to protect themselves. Nair community extends to the last name Kurup, Paniker and Nambiar as well(I know friends which go by each of the surname).

We went for lunch to Woodland’s Rangoli. It wasn’t too impressive. The paper dosa was fine but other stuff were below average. We rested in our hotel for a while and then left to the beach.

The sun shining above Arabian sea 

Air, Water and Land coexisting in harmony

Dad at Cherai beach

We arrived at Cherai beach at around 4.30 pm. The beach is long and clean. By clean I don’t mean perfectly clean but better than Juhu in every way. The water sparkled, reflecting the sun rays. 15 km of beach was available for a good walk. Many resorts marked their territory on the shores. For the first time in my life, I swam in the sea. Just a few seconds in shallow water. I could have gone further but I was afraid as there wasn’t anyone in the deep. Besides an offlate fear of waves in born in me, something I wouldn’t really like to discuss here.

We went back to Hotel Grand to have dinner. The food there is good, but overrated. You must however try the fish cooked in banana leaves over there, it was different.

December 28, 2012.

Kochi port

Fishermen at work

We had to wake up early in the morning to check out from the hotel. It’s always a struggle, waking up. We went for a boat ride along the port. The start to the ride is just around the same place as the Dutch Palace. We saw carriages being taken from the ships. Egrets embedded the coconut trees on an island we passed. Fishermen rowed their boats and hoped to catch a full meal for the city. Cruise boarded with over enthusiastic passangers.

Egrets resting on the leaves

Standing tall

After that we went to Fort Kochi. I will keep this bit a surprise for you. But you must visit this place. Remember to visit the Chinese fishing nets as well.

Chinese fishing nets

The Chinese fishing net is huge and full of woodwork. It used all sorts of basic force laws we learn in mechanics(science and engineering students will know what I am talking about). One of the fisherman showed us its working, and even let us pull the rope. I didn’t use even a bit of force for pulling, the others compensated well for me. I even held a fish which was restless to jump back to the waters.

Fisherman taking the captured fishes out

From there we left to Kumarakom.

*Karimeen - Pomfret

All photos taken by me.