KERALA -> Ernakulum, Cochin, Allapujha & Kottayam

Middle KERALA (India): God's own country

In middle and southern Kerala, there exists such a network of back-waters, rivers and canals that Venice should be called the 'Kerala of the West'. Of all these, the 70 kms long balloon-shaped Vembanad Lake is the biggest. At its inception, it divides the region into Allapujha and Kottayam districts and as the lake empties into the Arabian Sea, it divides the port-city in two: Kochi(towards sea) and Ernakulum ( towards interiors).

25 March 2006

Kochi-Ernakulum
Kochi -Ernakulum is the Jewel of Kerala. The city has three railway stations, separate domestic and international airports and a port, and is even bigger than the Kerala's capital - Trivendrum. I arrived at Ernakulum on Saturday along with a pal by train. We headed for the Main Jetty (from where one gets the ferries) which is between Marine Drive and Children's Park and from there reached Kochi by jetty. On setting foot, we set out for St. Peters Church. Kochi is groupable in Fort Area which includes the Christian buildings and offices though no worthwhile fort remains today, and Matencherry Area which has the busier town.

Kochi: Fort Area

Chinese nets - is a popular artifact to be admired. The huge cantilever-like nets catch fishes during the rise and fall of tides. Sheer ingenuity!!

St. Peters Church is attributed to be the oldest in India and was built by Portuguese in 1503. It once housed the tomb of Vasco da Gama for 14 years before it was shifted back to Lisbon. Later, the church exchanged hands between the conquerors: Dutch and English and different Christian schools too.

Dutch Cemetery is half a kilometre further and lies in decrepit state. While Bristish, French or Portugese cemetries are there in quite a many places, a Dutch cemetry is a rarity in India.

Indo-Portuguese Museum is half a kilometre further from Dutch cemetry. It is within the Bishop's mansion and was set up by Portuguese assistance. It exhibits clerical vestments and memorabilia like dresses, figurines, bibles etc. A British hydrorapher's map of Kerala made in colonial times just had me rooted there - it was so large and so detailed! The place also has a shop selling aromatic cosmetics - a Keralite specialty.

Santa Cruz Basilica had Italian artists’ roof-paintings and a copy of Last Supper as well. We requested a clerical person to shed light on some of the clerical terms. And thus I came to know that while a church has a father, every few thousand Christian families in a region have a Bishop whose church is Cathedral. A church special for some reason: treasures, antiquities, architecture, heritage etc is elevated to a Basilica, done so only by the Pope, the head of Roman Catholic Christdom. India has a Basilica in Old Goa and one here in Kochi – Santa Cruz Basilica. Also, whenever the sightings of Mother Mary are confirmed (like those of Devi Durga), often the nearby church is re-christened as Mary after the name of the local community or some other beatific name.

The lanes of Kochi Fort Area are all Goan: queer inns and pubs, inviting restaurants and emporiums of Indian works of metal, wood and textiles which all foreigners peek into.

Kochi: Matencherry Area

Jews-town - is an important locality here with their synagogue (unfortunately closed on Saturday) and the markets famous for old trade-houses of spice, rubber and cashew existing to this date.

Dutch palace - was actually built by the Portuguese in early 16th C to pacify the local ruler, and only later reapaired by the Dutch. It has on showcase: maps which indicate 5 different variations of Kochi's spellings, wall-frescos including a rather alarming verion of Lord Krishna with Vrindavan gopis (belles) in the basement, palanquins, armaments and portraits of Verman dynasty’s kings charted from 1500 to 1960s whereafter the last ruler Kerala Varman abolished the title.

We returned by bus to Ernakulum. I did some shopping in Ernakulum for books. The city has some great malls besides the Marine Drive – a popular youth-spot in the evening.

26 March 2006
ALLAPUJHA (locally called Allaporha, earlier called Allepey).
From Ernakulum, we arrived here on Sunday (2 hrs) by bus. It is well-connected to Kochi by an express highway. It has two canals (North and South) in which the North canal has the main jetty( the point to take ferries). Boats are of three types here: Government ferries connecting rural inland-islands, houseboats preferred by foreigners for a cruise for many days and Motorboats for a few hours. There are also non-motorised oared boats as well. We experienced a motor-boat ride and took a round of nearby villages where Ayurvedic resorts constructed besides the canals, offer spirituality and health to their seekers. The place is the venue of annual and much-celebrated Nehru Boat Race. Then we boerded the govt. ferry to Kottayam. It takes 2.5 hours, is cheap and relaxing if one can get used to the motor-sound. It ferries some 100 people, half emptying out in nearby villages itself. The landscape I witnessed put the Dil Se movie's song to shame. Believe me!! Our ferry coursing through narrow canals cut across shoals of ducks, floating beds of flowered hydracinths which were miles-long and dense, and excited local kids running along, for many have ferry as their sole means of travel. Meanwhile, I struck a conversation with an Argentinian and read Thomas Friedman's ‘The World is Flat’.

KOTTAYAM

Kottayam – is the cultural capital of Kerala. It has a famous Shiva Temple where an annual festival is held with gold finery-bedecked elephants and colorful umbrellas. Unfortunately, the temple and the two adjacent churches of Cherriapally and Veliapally were both closed – Sunday afternoon being the nap-time. The Veliapally Church is built atop a hillock is tranquil and inspiring. It overlooks the lush forests and canals and from here one can see below, the life in the village down the hillock. The Cherriapally Church was having some clerical election. So, we returned back to Ernakulum Bus Stand by bus (nearly 2.5 hours) just-in-time to catch our bus to Mangalore from the same Ernakulum Bus-Stand. (470 kms, 11 hours)