A Smidgen Of Each Religion

Day 254- We knew little about the destination where we booked a room accept for the fact that they had a Jewish settlement. Our room was in the city of Fort Cochin, also known as Fort Kochi, in a family's home called Aldos Ark homestay. Our room was adorable and reminded me of a grandmothers home. It was almost too color coordinated with floral patterns everywhere. Only $14 dollars a night.

We didn't have much day left so we did some minor exploring of our new surroundings and settled in for dinner at a place called Dal Roti. I had the channa masala and Mike tried the butter chicken. The place was swarming with tourists and had a perfect rating on trip advisor so Mike braved having meat for the first time in India. He said it was really good and no incident to report, so it looked like it was the right call. 

More importantly, the time had finally come for me to try Gulab Jamun (sweet, delicious Indian balls covered in sugar). I had eaten these deserts many times back in Calgary but I was looking forward to the real deal. A British couple sitting beside us was fascinated that we had access to these sugary deserts back in Calgary and as my excitement was so apparent, Mike took the opportunity to capture my reaction with a photo. Haha. 

I'm glad that he did. This was me saying 'whoa' as the treat melted in my mouth. Haha My sister would die!!!! 

                   

We enjoyed a lengthly walk home, taking in the charm of this romantic, european-esk Indian city. 

The night was one of our worst, as the heat and humidity was suffocating our bodies and it couldn't be ignored. 

Day 255-After the lovely owner of our homestay took me to book some train tickets, we set out for a day of exploring. 

First stop, Jew Town. No, I'm not being politically incorrect, we we're in fact going to a place called Jew Town and it started on a road called Jew Street. This was a destination that we added to our list once I read it on a blog. Back home in Calgary my boss is Jewish and I have been lucky enough to learn a lot about Judaism over the past 9 years from him. I was interested to find out what kind of influence Judaism had in India and I figured he might be interested as well. This was just one more religion that we found ourselves brushing shoulders with as we travelled through India. 

Little Jewish symbols continue to decorate the side streets of this long standing Jewish community. I read that the Jews settled in this area as early as the 12th century.

                       

Star of David and Menorah accents.

                       

Apparently, the Jews that settled in the Fort Chochin area, are the first Jewish settlers in India. The main attraction for the area was the Jewish Paradesi Synagogue, built in 1568. 

              

The inside of the synagogue was beautifully decorated. Apparently the synagogue continues to be a place of worship and still has a congregation. 

                            

Most of the storefront signs in the area are named with some variation of the word Shalom (a salutation meaning peace), which I assume were all later additions to cater to the tourism in the area. 

The guy below made us laugh quite a bit. He jumped up from his spot on the sidewalk to yell at us to come see his shop as he pointed up to his sign that said 'Hassle Free Shop'... Really?

                      

We have a bit of a tradition at my work back home to buy our boss a trinket every time he gives us time off to go on a trip and he puts it on the mantle at the jewellery store. So where better to buy his souvenir than in Jew Town, Kerala, India. After we shopped, hassle free, we continued our day of exploration. Does it count as 'hassling' if the store owner follows you around silently, breathing over your shoulder and continues to show you item after item, even after you've said 'no thanks'? I guess I did end up buying something so maybe I will bring this new sales technique back to Canada and use it in the Jewellery store! You can thank me later David! 

We walked around for a bit and I found this beautiful wall. I couldn't help but stop for a photo. 

                    

Next stop, the Chinese fishing nets. This incredible invention was used by early Chinese settlers but apparently was introduced by the greatest explorers of all time... the Portuguese. 

The device is perfectly weighted so that the weight of a single man standing on the wood beams of the netted part, can lower the net with his own weight. The net stays under water for a few minutes, then is raised up to show the few fish caught in it. 

Mike and I were watching the process so intently that the men offered Mike to join in. Here is a time lapse video of the ingenious structure. You can see Mike go out and check the net before retaking his position and lowering the net back down.

                        

Mike and I were wondering if those giant rocks ever come loose! 

We stopped for two coconuts and continued our tour. 

Next stop was a Catholic Church that had quite the history of its own.

                    

As you can see below this was the first european church built in India. Take one guess as to who was responsible for erecting this beauty of a church. Yup you got it, the Portuguese!! 

                 

And not just any Portuguese but the most famous explorer of all, Vasco Da Gama himself, who is pretty much a hero in Portugal. Vasco Da Gama is known for finding the ocean route between Europe and Asia. He was the first european to reach India by sea in the late 1400's. According to wikipedia, today, he is still considered one of the greatest explorers of all time and his discovery of the Asian-European route remains as a milestone in the world's history because of its impact on global imperialism and its roll in sea trade between these two continents. 

He actually died in Fort Chochin and was buried in this very church. Although, years later the Portuguese wanted him back, so today his tomb remains in the church but his body lies in a monastary in Lisbon, Portugal. 

                    

                      

Next up we had a quick stop at the Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica but it was closed to the public so I guess we wouldn't get to see the insides of this beautiful building. We were quite surprised by the vast amount of Catholic influence in the south of India and it wasn't uncommon to see entire neighbourhoods with beautiful stone and marble crosses on their front lawns. It was nice to experience a little of our own religion in India, with so much faith being practiced all around us. 

                

We got word that there was a celebration happening at a Hindu temple nearby so we got in a cab and headed out of our small city to a nearby town. When we got there, hundreds of people stood under a decorated canvas and waited for the excitement to begin. We had asked our guesthouse host about the festival and he said it would be nice to see but he warned us to be careful. Elephants were the main attraction of the event and he said to stay clear of them because of the many accidents that occur each year when the elephants 'go wild'! If you're bored, look on YouTube with the search line, 'Elephants Kerala' and you will see what he's talking about. 

And then we saw the beautiful beasts. Decorated with floral garlands and gold headdresses, they didn't look scary at all. 

                          

11 of these giant creatures stood side by side with hundreds of people crowded around them waiting to begin their march. 

We could feel the tension amongst the crowd and we even saw an elephant run forward at one point and people didn't hesitate to run, push and shove to get out of the elephants way, in a panic! I didn't like the chains on the elephants and couldn't help but feel like there was good reason for the elephants to freak out! It was hot, loud and must have been super uncomfortable for the giants. I felt bad for them.

We left before the march got under way. 

While writing this entry, I looked online to find the name of this festival and discovered some sickening truths about the abuse these elephants receive. It is heart breaking and I regret supporting such an event. 

We made our way back to Fort Kochi and enjoyed a delicious dinner at Kashi, a quaint little garden hideway with fresh soup and sandwiches. As we left the restaurant we were stopped behind a long line of locals holding candles. 

We stopped to listen to the words they were speaking and quickly realized that they were doing the stations of the cross in preparation for Easter. 

It was still a week before Easter and we knew we would not be in a Catholic area to celebrate when it arrived, so we seized  the opportunity and joined the procession. We walked along the streets with the locals stopping at each station around the town before ending up at the Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica that we had visited earlier in the day. It had been closed earlier and I am so happy that we got to go back. The church may have been the nicest we'd ever seen while travelling. It was old, the details were intricate, the design was unique and colours were vibrant. The Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica was built in 1505 and somehow it still seemed more modern than a lot of newer churches while still maintaining some of the most beautiful 16th century art we had ever seen. It reminded Mike and I of the art in the Sistine Chapel, it was so pretty. We stuck around after the mass ended and took a few photos.

The stations of the cross, painted on the ceiling. 

                     

Beautiful tile decorated each and every arch. 

We had the best visit in Fort Kochi and if our day proved anything, it's that Fort Kochi is a charming city with lots of culture and history. Our day consisted of some Jewish influence, some Portuguese history, a hindu festival, the stations of the cross in a catholic church and ended off with the muslim prayer call blasting in the streets at night time. These are the unexpected discoveries that make travelling so addicting. 

Day 256- We tried to sleep for a few hours before waking to catch a taxi to the airport. Once again it was too hot to sleep, especially with a looming wake up call at 3 am. We ended up getting to the airport way too early and experienced another first... a closed airport. All I wanted was some sleep. 

Now off to experience another Hindu celebration.