Kochi Part 2

3rd October

Ahead of a full day of sightseeing, I was refueled with some nice oothapam and sambar. Despite this being my first visit to the South India, the food was not new to my buds, as I spend the bulk of my waking hours at Sarvana Bhavan*.  

Kochi is composed of three main parts: two islands (Fort Kochi and Willingdon Island) and mainland India (Ernakulam). Ernakulam has developed into a business town and accordingly the traffic is ridiculous. Willingdon Island is fundamentally a navy island, and at the shipyard I saw India's first homemade navy boat! Apparently until now they have been buying from China and Russia. Finally, Fort Kochi is seen as the "real Kochi" or "old Kochi" having maintained the original culture. Surprisingly (or not?) this is also home to most of the tourist attractions.

The attractions of Kochi are mainly religious monuments. Whether or not these count as God's creations, thus reinforcing the image of "God's own country", is a debate I shall have with myself at another time. The tour included the Paradesi Synagogue on Synagogue Lane in Jew Town (impressive only for being built in 1568), Mattancherry Palace (known for its murals of Ramayan and Raja portraits - built 1555), Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica (a very large, colourful church), and St. Francis Church (a contrastingly depressing church, but the oldest in India - built 1503). The 1500s seem to have been a golden age for builders in Kochi, but it was also the century of colonial struggle, particularly with the Portuguese and the Dutch. I also saw the Chinese Fishing Nets, which may seem insignificant compared with the religious monuments above, but were also impressive and very important for the livelihood of many Fort Kochi residents. ⊙

By the end of all this I felt like I had been in a triple history lesson, so I decided to head back over to Marine Drive in the evening to watch the sun set over Vembanad Lake. Funsets never seem to get old!

* Vast exaggeration.

⊙ The source for a lot of this information was the driver, Mr Sunil. He has a similar facial profile to Will.I.Am, so I believe what he says.