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Published: November 29th 2012
Chinese Fishing Nets
Ingenious fishing system special to KeralaA slower start today. We stopped at the fish market to admire the Chinese
fishnets. Originally a design from China, a very large cantilever allows the fishermen to lower a fine mesh net into the harbour at tidal times, scooping up unwary fish.
We walked a short distance to the historic
St Francis Church, first established by the Portuguese and subsequently by the British. The church’s claim to fame is the grave of
Vasco da Gama; however, a few years ago the Portuguese reclaimed his bones and reinterred them “at home”. I also saw the
punkah fan system for the first time – regularly mentioned in English novels of India.
We walked down the road to the
Dutch Palace, but since a large group had just entered, our guide suggested visiting the
Paradesi synagogue first. We walked through two streets of vendors on Jew Road and through the historic district. Jews first came here before Christ, although this community was established in the first century C.E. Only nine people are still in Kochi, in part because many went to Israel after WWII. We glimpsed the oldest, a woman who opens her house to tourists, and met the youngest, a single woman who runs the visits to
St Francis Church
Notice the punkah fan system the historic synagogue. Unlike the synagogue in Crete I visited last year, the rules here are very strict: removal of shoes and no talking, except for our guide. The room was large and airy, suffused with light. A fine gold-decorated pulpit dominated the room. A few photos on the walls showed that throughout history there have been good relations with the rulers of Kochi, and the guide mentioned that the Jews and the Muslims down the road collaborate on certain things. Many religious buildings are in this area – a locus of good will.
Following this we had time to shop in the street. I didn’t have the taste for shopping today. Until I stopped in front of a board, a display of drawer pulls like the ones in my kitchen. Just for fun I bought five more for 100 rupees.
Now, we were able go into the Dutch Palace, originally a “Tax Palace” where the king collected taxes from the vendors around. Now it is a national museum with excellent murals and paintings. There were several wood palanquins, ornate but small from our perspective – must have been very hot. Tour over too soon, we drove to
Kathakali dancers
Prince and the fair lady (or demon!) lunch at a nearby hotel. The dining room was freezing to our over-heated bodies.
Back at the hotel, the others got ready for a harbour cruise, which I decided to forego when I glimpsed out the window and saw the chop on the harbour. I went swimming in the pool and met JK an hour later to take the bus to meet the others at the end of their cruise.
Close by was the
Kathakali Theatre, where we went for a stylized dance, special to Kerala, with actors highly made-up into faces that look like masks. We were invited (along with a hundred or so other tourists) to see the makeup being applied. The actors were on their back on a small platform while makeup artists applied the paint and “jowl appliances” to make their faces look broad and strange.
In the theatre, one of the actors displayed ritual eye movements (made more obvious by dark, thick eyeliner), the alphabet of finger movements, and the ritual movements associated with recognized emotions, such as love, welcome and disgust – all explained by an announcer and accompanied by skilled drumming. The best of these was called “Bees sucking nectar of
Kathakali dancers
Extraordinary facial makeup the Lotus”; the collaboration of the artist’s hand movements and the rising and falling of the drum rhythm created a graphic impression of bees flying from flower to flower. Finally two actors portrayed the ritual story of a king who almost fell in love with a demon disguised as a beautiful girl.
Then we crossed the road to the Seagull Hotel where we had a relaxing dinner on the veranda over the harbour. We were invited to choose our fish from an ice-filled table. I couldn’t have red snapper because everyone else was having prawns. The chef said three-persons-minimum for the size of the red snapper, but he dug out another snapper from the ice. (Checked on Wikipedia. It was probably a Bluefish.) Naturally I agreed and ordered it grilled with lime and salt to complement the fresh flavour. It was a little too cooked for my taste, but that seems to be the Indian style. A gentle breeze relaxed us all as we chatted and enjoyed extra beer.
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