In case you’re wondering exactly where I am at the moment…
This being my last day of two whole days in Kochi I have been busy squeezing in as much as possible. I hired a diver with an AC car (it being only 35 C) to take me to the must see sights in Kochi. It was well worth the 2300 Indian Rupees (40 CAD) to be taken through the crazy busy streets from my hotel to the Fort Kochi area where much of the history of the Malabar coast was unfurled.
So many layers of influence converged on this slice of the planet mainly in the name of spice and as all food lovers will tell you that is not a minor consideration. First came the Portuguese, then the Dutch, then the British and finally, after many squabbles, they all went away. Fortunately, they did not abscond with all the spices. They did however leave their mark and Fort Kochi is the place to see it.
As a nod to its precolonial past, Kochi was a princely state ruled by the Maharaja. A surprise to me, “Kochi” includes a group of islands and towns, including Ernakulam, Mantancherry, Fort Cochin, Willingdon Island, Vypin Island, and Gundu Island. The urban mainland areas included the neighbourhoods of Trikkakara, Eloor, Kalamassery, and Trippunithura. That’s a mouthful right? The islands can be reached from the mainland where I stayed by both frequent ferries or several bridges, or better yet if you don’t mind very close quarters there are several hotels on Fort Kochi.
Kochi was a fishing village until, in the 14th century, water erosion caused it to be separated from the mainland but created a safe inside harbour. The Portuguese came and settled in the late 15th C and founded the first European settlement on Indian soil at Kochi in 1500. Fort Kochi remained a Portuguese possession until it was conquered by the Dutch in 1663.
Under Dutch rule (1663–1795) Kochi had its greatest prosperity, shipping pepper, cardamom and other spices and drugs as well as coir (coconut shell fibre – think doormats), coconut, and copra (dried coconut seeds used for oil and animal feed).
According to the museum in the old Mattancherry Palace, the city’s ethnic and religious groups, including its Hindu majority and the Muslim, Syrian Christian, and Jewish minorities, shared in the city’s prosperity.
Interestingly I sat beside a man on the plane from London whose heritage was Jewish. His people left Europe in one of the pogroms to settle in Kochi as spice farmers and merchants but have assimilated and become Catholic over the generations. I also read that the Jewish community in Kochi was the oldest in India, claiming to date from the 4th century. They trickled in over the centuries and lived peacefully until the Portuguese imported the ideas of the Inquisition.
At Fort Cochin is St. Francis Church, built by the Portuguese in 1510 and reputedly the first European church on Indian soil. It was for a time the burial place of Vasco da Gama before his remains were taken to Portugal. Other churches as well as Hindu temples, mosques, and the historic synagogue at Mattancherry all stand in the area.
British rule over Kochi lasted from 1795 until 1947, when India became independent. (Watch the movie Gandhi)
A system of inland waterways running parallel to the coast provides Kochi with cheap transportation, and picturesque lagoons and backwaters that attract tourists.
in front of the mainland.
The mainland part of Kochi is one endless jumble of noisy streets, buildings, commerce, life being lived, people constantly on the move using every conveyance possible to get to their jobs, homes, schools, whatever the case may be. In one single block on the main streets you pass a multitude of businesses, homes and schools. Scooters dart between Tuk Tuks darting between cars darting between trucks, daring between buses. You get the drift. (Nothing to my Mexican friends)
Street scenes always of interest, can present some forms of urban irony wherever you go and I took the opportunity to snap this one. If you know that the woman on the right in the photo is a beggar with a severe limp, you will get my drift.
Just when I was beginning to recover from jet lag and get the hang of things it was time to leave Kochi but not before I visited the Lulu Mall a temple of consumerism at its best. If this mall was in Vancouver I would not be able to afford to shop there. It has every shop knows to man the world over and is very expensive by Indian standards. My driver/now friend Sreehari told me that the average person does not shop there. That includes me! It is huge and shiny and even has a Starbucks! Of course.
And so Kochi until I pass through on my way to Sri Lanka in a few weeks time, thank you for a lovely stay and special shout out to the Ginger Kochi Hotel! I highly recommend it should you find yourself able to visit Kerala.
Wander With Stella 