Trip to INDIA - 08 Fort Cochin

FORT COCHIN

6 February 2008

Dear Friends and Family

I arrived in Ernakulam, the mainland town close to a series of islands in the Arabian Sea including my destination, the island of Fort Cochin an Mattancherry The time was around 4:00 am and I was there with another woman, a teacher from England. We went to an open nearby stand and had a cup of tea. I eventually walked around and found a rickshaw driver that agreed to drive the 18 km. to Fort Cochin for 180 rupees (about $5.00). I understand that they charge for their return trip to the mainland. The driver dropped us at our destination on Princess Street, the center of the budget hotels. Nothing is open and a few other travelers are hanging around. I wanted to book a room at the Elite, but the driver is trying to get me to book at another hotel, the Park Lane. (where he would probably get a commission). Around 7:30 things are slowing coming alive and I find that the Elite is full. I eventually get a room at the Park Lane and the English woman gets a room in a “home stay”.

Fort Cochin and Mattancherry are the main tourist attraction in the area for good reasons. Fort Conchin has very busy waterfront where they fish with huge canteliverd nets from 7:00 am to 6;00 pm. The nets, which require five people to maneuver them in and out of the water, were installed by the Chinese in the 15^th century.

A walking tour of Fort Conchin reveal the influence of the Dutch, Portuguese, and British. India’s oldest European church, St. Francis Church was built by the Portuguese Franciscan friars in1503. An imposing wooden gate surmounted by a gabled shaped top reminds one of the gabled houses in Holland. Policemen carrying sticks, look very much like the British officers.

The Mattancherry Palace and the Jewish Town are located on the east side of the island a few kilometers South of Fort Conchin. The palace was built by the Portuguese in 1555 and was presented to the raja of Cochin, Veera Kerala Varma. The main attraction today are the murals, some of the best in India, depicting scenes from Indian’s legends.

The Jewish town, called, Jew Town, features a synagogue built in 1568. The floor of the synagogue is covered with blue hand-painted tiles imported from China. The area around the synagogue is one of the center of Kochi’s spice trade. The air is filled with the pungent aromas of ginger, cardamom, cumin, turmeric, and cloves.

The highlight of my Fort Conchin visit is the Kathakali performance I attended the evening before my departuere from Kochi. Fort Conchin is the place to see a full performance.A Kathakali performance is the dramatised presentation of a play, based on the Hindu epics of the Ramayana, the Mahabhara and the Puranas.The classic themes are covered; good versus evil, war and peace, poverty and prosperity etc. Drummers accompany the actors, and singers vocalize the script. The performers tell the story through precise movements such hand gestures and facial expressions. The performance lasted 3 hours, part of it was taken by the performers preparing themselves for the oncoming show by meditation, very elaborate face painting, putting seed into their eyes to redden the white, Then, one performer demonstrated the numerous, hand motions, body motion, facial expressions (especially eyes and lips) used to convey the meanings and emotions. The rest of the time was taken by the play itself “The Killing of Baka”. There are three main characters. The good guy, Bhima, second and most powerful of the Pandava Princes (Pacha-green face), The victim, Brahmin, a member of the village community menaced by the demon Barka (Brahmin is yellod-faced with beard). The bad guy, Baka, a violent murderous forest-dwelling demon (red-face and bearded). The performance was fascinating, including the preliminaries, and the opportunities to step on the stage to take pictures while the actors were putting on their make-up. Not wanted to use flash I used ISO 1600, with 1/30 shutter speed and a wide open lens. I may eventually get to the point where I like digital photography!

Love and peace - henri