The Cochin Diaries - Day 4

I realised that Tharian was having a hectic life while I was still sleeping every morning - taking long walks, hitting the gym etc - which was good because I really did not want to disturb his routine. In fact all three of them were on a set routine and I feel guilty that our chakkars during the day were putting some pressure on their routines but what to do. 

An impressive clock

Temple

At the breakfast hour Tharian suggested that we head to the corner Udipi joint for breakfast and I signed up and so did Sanjana (the others signed out) and we went and had some nice South Indian breakfast served by some happy looking North Eastern boys and girls. How comfortable are these kids so far away from home I wondered, and yes, they looked quite happy about being down here too despite not knowing the language, food etc. Tharian's neighbourhood is full of interesting eating joints and I think it would take me a month to check them all out. On the way back I bought fruit from Chotu from Bihar who was quite happy to converse with someone in Hindi it appeared, apparently he has been in Kochi for the past 15 years and goes home once a year. Interestingly I get the feeling that the people in Kochi are quite welcoming in accepting outsiders without much suspicion - they smile, speak nicely to strangers, something that I cannot say about many other states. 

Today was back to Fort Kochi to check out the place after the last recce -  everything was shut remember? So since A would take her own time to get up and dressed and since Sanjana was coming back from her Sangeet a bit later we tied them together while Tharian and Marina and I headed off to Fort Kochi to do some museum work at Mattancherry Palace. 

With an entry ticket of a mere 5 bucks (and no charge for cameras) the Mattancherry Palace, house of the Cochin royals, was most welcoming. For some reason it is called the Dutch Palace though it was built by the Portuguese in 1555 (the Dutch did some restoration work but still). As mentioned somewhere here, the Palace was an offering to make peace with the Cochin royals after the Portuguese had messed up and plundered a temple - and thus the palace was gifted to the Raja Vira Kerala Varma. The museum has a lot of artifacts belonging to the royal family, portraits, murals, weapons, exhibits. 

Mural in the Ramayana room - seven murals depicting the Ramayana

 

Ivory palanquin

Little is known about the Rajas of Kochi and the plaque outside the Mattancherry Palace gave some info. The kingdom of Cochin came into existence in the 12th century after the fall of the Chera kingdom. The family that ruled was known as Perumpadapu Swarupam. They moved to Kochi after the Namboodri ruler of Edapally transferred Kochi and Vypin to the Perumpadapu rulers (and thus they came to be known as Kings of Kochi). 

It appears that the Kochi Royal family shifted from Mahodayapuram to Kochi in the 15th century as a precaution  against the marauding Zamorin of Calicut. That the Zamorin and the Rajas of Kochi were not the greatest of pals seems to be the core issue. When the Portuguese landed in 1500 in Cochin, the Rajas of Kochi gave them permission to build factories and do trade, in exchange for military support against the Zamorin of Calicut (who was busy fighting the Portuguese with his Kunjali Marakkar navy chiefs). The move by the Raja of Cochin to let the Portuguese step in, pretty much made them the vassals of the Portuguese. 

Interestingly the Chinese had a special affinity to Cochin and the Ming dynasty granted special status to Kochi as being under the protection of the Chinese dynasty. It was only after the Chinese stopped coming to Kochi that the local skirmishes began again. 

Then the Dutch came calling in 1663. In 1752 the Raja of Travancore and Raja of Kochi entered into a treaty. Tipu Sultan occupied Kochi for a while and then it was the British. 

Tharian examining the sword presented to HH Rama Varma by HRH the Prince of Wale sin 1876

The Mattancherry Palace lists 14 rulers in the period between 1637-1749, very few of them ruling for more than five years. The ones who had a slightly longer stay on the throne were Raja Goda Varma (1637-45), Raja Veera Kerala Varma (1646-1655), Raja Veera Kerala Varma (1663-870, Raja Rama Varma (1701-21), Raja Ravi Varma (1721-31), Raja Rama Varma (1731-42).  Interestingly there is one queen Rani Gangadharalakshmi (1656-58). The Dutch were busy manipulating who sits on the throne according to their convenience. Who says the lives of the royals was a breeze. Obviously not. What was that - heavy lies the head on which the crown sits or something like that. At times like this one feels its nice to be light headedly middle class. 

Long wooden corridors

Murals in natural colors

Murals in the Ladies Chamber

The roof - I'd be perpetually living in fear under that

The palace has a central courtyard where the patron deity of the royal family Pazhayaannu Bhagavati is enshrined. The main palace is split into four parts which we see one after another 1) the bed chamber or Ramayana chamber (has Ramayana depicted in seven murals) 2) the Coronation hall 3) the staircase room and 4) the ladies chamber (with murals of Krishnaleela, Siva Parvathi, Mohini). We walked through the Ramayana hall with its impressive murals depicting the Ramayana with minute details captured on it, a history of Cochin and the royal family, then portraits of the kings, artifacts belonging to them such as the ivory palanquin etc, weapons, clothes, the murals in the ladies chamber and so on. We must have been there for an hour.   

We walked out from the back gate and walked back to the Jew Town where once again we found that the Synagogue was closed. When is it open? Anyway Marina liked the Jew Town and its many interesting wares and decided to visit again in peace. 

Police Aid Post in Jew Town

Jew Town is known for its antiques and one of the theories is that when the Jews from Jew Town left after the formation of Israel, many artifacts were given away at throwaway prices. But how long will they last? Then of course we have the story of people like Sarah Cohen (1922-2019) who lived her whole life in Jew Town - died when she was 96 years (she was visited by the British Royal family in 2013).  

By some luck I seem to have caught Sarah Cohen's shop in the right hand corner - didn't step in though

I did not know it then but now I chanced upon the story of Sarah Cohen - Sarah and Jacob Cohen who were born and stayed in Jew Town in Mattacherry even after over 200 plus Jews left when Israel was formed - they lived and died here. Sarah's husband Jacob and she formed a wonderful relationship with a Muslim boy Thatha Ibrahim who grew up with them and looked after them, and now, after Sarah's death in 2019, inherited her famous Sarah Cohen's Hand Embroidery shop. There is a documentary made on them called Sarah Thaha Thoufeeq. Thaha Ibrahim runs the shop now and I seem to have fortunately caught a glimpse of it without realising. In these days of Jews fighting Muslims, it serves as a lovely story.

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/longform/2024/4/6/saving-sarah-the-last-jewish-embroidery-shop-in-kochi

Stepping into another age

Sanjana and Anjali in Jew Town 

Different shades of blue - make up a story with this pic   

While walking about we found this place right there by the backwaters (or the sea, I don't know, all I know is its water) - and it looked perfect for a spot of lunch. With options like Loafers Den, Francis Pub., Kerala Cafe and others screaming for our attention, we finally decided to stay with the view and enjoy this place with its gentle waves lapping by. 

The restaurant actually is an extension of the antique store that ran all the way in. Tharian showed me one of those snake boats they use at the boat race (in the antique store - wonder if it is up for sale) and it was truly magnificent - about 25 metres long. The artifacts on display were very interesting, appealing to all sorts of buyers. The others had come by then and we all settled down to some lunch by the waters. 

Lunch by the sea

Snake boat - check out how long it is

After lunch we went back to Jew Town where A and S wandered off buying stuff. We went to the Indo-Portuguese museum which was on my list but sadly they shut by 1 for the day. The other option was to visit the Indian Naval Maritime beach which was made out of two bunkers that had built by the British to store arms and ammunition in 1938 in preparation for World War II. 

The museum was built in 2001 by the Southern Naval Command as a tribute to the India's Naval Heritage and is housed in INS Dronacharya, the gunnery school of Indian Navy. The museum documents Kerala's ancient trade connections with the Arabs, shows maps, tales of maritime heroes Kunjali Marakkar and their daring exploits (Kunjali Marakkar was a title given to naval commanders serving the Zamorin of Calicut in the 16th century, there were four of them and they are credited with creating Indian's first naval defense by resisting and overpowering the Portuguese), statues of Vasco Da Gama and his Gujarathi pilot Kanji Malam who helped him come to Indian shores, to Calicut.

One of the two bunkers

Vasco Da Gama and Kanji Malam in the background, Kunjali Marakkar in the foreground on the right

 There were decommissioned models of missiles, radars, mines, gun torpedoes, rocket launchers, and even a Seaking helicopter. There are models of INS Delhi, INS Godavari and such. The second bunker has the uniforms of various naval personnel, model boats, naval history etc are shown in the second bunker.

INS Godavari

A beautiful model

It was a hectic day and the sun had much to do with draining us of our energy so we decided to stay back and chat and catch up over wine and dinner at home. A good time was had - some music, wine, good conversation. Brilliant. 

Tomorrow its Monday. Its Alleppey and houseboat day.