Every week, I spend a good amount of time browsing stuff at office. Be it Quora, Amazon (to check if there are any good deals), and travel blogs/information about places. Quite often, my havildar joins me for evening coffee and stares at my screen. I remember having told him more than thrice that I was planning to visit Kochi. And recently when I told him the same, he replied saying “Sir, you’ve been planning since you joined, but when are you going to visit?”. I took that with a pinch of salt and decided to walk the talk that weekend. Fortunately, I could get a return ticket and a bed at a hostel in advance.
The journey began on a Saturday morning. The KSRTC bus had a unique reservation system. The ticket seller gives you a coupon with the seat number written on it for 10 bucks. The journey ticket is given by the conductor in the bus. I realised it when someone asked me to get up saying it’s their seat. I had to run to the counter at the eleventh hour and luckily saved myself from standing through the journey.
I reached by 8 30 am and had quite some time before I could check-in at the hostel. I decided to commute only by public transportation and also put the little bit of Malayalam alphabet I learned, to use. The first time it backfired. I realised pronunciation is the toughest part in Malayalam. The conductor must have understood my destination as something else and I was dropped in some far away corner. Too bad, I didn’t keep checking Google Maps. However, I could eventually get back whizzing through the weekend traffic of Kochi.
The first stop was Kerala Folklore Museum. There was no mention of this place in the blogs I went through. It is a three floored building that’s constructed in traditional Kerala style with wooden flooring. The number of artefacts are mind boggling. Despite having three floors, the space crunch was evident. The Museum depicts a lot of cultural elements from Kerala especially elaborating the folk dances and temple festivals. People outside Kerala would mostly know about Classical dances like Kathakali and a few about Mohiniattam but beyond that it’s difficult. This place gave an insight into Theyyam, Kummattikali among many others and festivals like Kettukazcha and Thrissur Pooram. There were several other antiques predominantly from the Chettiars of Karaikudi, Chozhas of Thanjavur, Kingdoms of Cochin, Malabar and Travancore. However, one mistake that I could spot was the reference to all the rulers of Hyderabad/Golconda as Nizams which is not the case.
*Nizam-ul-Mulk is a title given to Mir Qamaruddin Khan Siddiqui and their lineage begins in the first quarter of the 18th Century. The earlier rulers were Qutub Shahis
The staff were patient to take a note of it when pointed out. The entrance fee of 100 rupees and another 100 bucks for photography is on the higher side but seeing their staff being well informed and accommodative of the visitors, the fee was worth it. If it hadn’t been for a friend of mine, I’d have certainly missed this place. She went on to say that this place is run by a private individual. I expected it to be much smaller in terms of the artefacts and their diverse nature. But this guy’s collection made me feel like he’s the modern day Salarjung!
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| Kerala Folklore Museum |
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| Masks #1 |
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| Masks #2 |
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Bull figurine used during Kettukazcha
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| Elephant Decor |
I decided earlier to pay a visit to one of the Toddy shops. The one that was pretty famous on Zomato was Mullappanthal Toddy Shop. After switching a couple of buses, walking for a kilometre and constantly checking the map (lesson learnt!), I finally reached the place. You can smell the pungent odour of coconut toddy as you enter the shop. I reached a little early for lunch and it was easy to get a table. I tried Puttu and fried clam meat, which was spicy even for my palate but complemented well with the Toddy. Coconut toddy on comparison to the Palm Toddy we get at my native is sour.
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| Fried Clams & Coconut Toddy |
Soon after this quick lunch, I proceeded to the Boat Jetty in Ernakulam and got on a Ferry to Fort Kochi. A 20 minute ride in the humid and scorching heat made me sweat like pig. And then the 20 minute walk from the Jetty to the hostel added fuel to the fire.
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| Boat Jetty, Ernakulam |
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| Cochin Port Trust Administrative Building, Willingdon Island |
The hostel seemed like a heaven and immediately after checking in, I slept like a baby for a couple of hours. I set out to explore Fort Kochi in the evening on foot. Fort Kochi is an art lover’s paradise. The cafes and streets exhibited some fine graffiti. The walls of the hostel too are decorated beautifully with elements depicting the cultural heritage of Kerala. I decided to visit the Chinese Fishing nets first which have a history of 5 centuries but are hardly used now. The view of the sun going into the sea hiding behind the huge nets & watching a vessel disappear beyond the horizon were a feast to the eyes. The stalls nearby sold fresh catch at dirt cheap prices. You can buy the seafood and get it cooked on spot for a few extra bucks. The only minus here is the beach which is not well maintained. A walk along the promenade with the sea breeze offering a respite after a sultry day made me lost in thought. It was late by the time I realised I came way too far and had to walk back. After a quick dinner, I retired for the night.
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| Zostel Kochi #1 |
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| Zostel Kochi #2 |
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| Zostel Kochi #3 |
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| Quaint Streets of Fort Kochi |
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| Chinese Fishing Nets, Fort Kochi |
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| Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica, Fort Kochi |
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| Promenade, Fort Kochi |
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| Catch of the day |
Day 2:
I checked out of the hostel and went to visit the Dutch/Mattancherry Palace which was built in 1555 and gifted to the Cochin Rajas. The walls of the palace are adorned by the Mural Art with scenes mainly from the Ramayana and a bit of Krishna Lila. The pictures and paintings of the Rajas showcase their modest living. The childhood pictures show only a loin cloth wrapped and then replaced by a mundu. The palace has a temple for the protector goddess of the ruling family, Pazhayannur Bhagavati. If a quiz had to be conducted on the rulers of Cochin, two options would suffice for the names of the kings. All the names were either Rama Varma or Kerala Varma. However, they had different titles like the Aikya (Keralam) Thampuran (the king who united Malabar, Cochin and Travancore to form the modern day Kerala) etc.
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| Mattancherry Palace |
From there I walked to the Jew Town. The very entrance to the Jew Town greets you with a subtle smell of incense and spices that certainly lifts your mood and Jewish insignia like the Star of David, the Israeli flag and a few signs in Hebrew. The history of Jewish trade relations date to the time of King Solomon and the Jewish settlements to as early as 78 AD after the Siege of Jerusalem. True to the mercantile profession of the Jews, this ancient quarter is lined up with shops that deal in spices, antiques and a couple of art cafes. And at one end lies the Paradesi Synagogue, standing tall in white coloured coat and well complemented with Turquoise Blue doors and windows. The ticket seller Yaheh is one of the few remaining Jews of Cochin and reveals how the once thriving community migrated to the Jewish heartland after the state of Israel was carved out. The interiors of the synagogue are lined with Belgian Chandeliers and oil lit lamps, a Brass Pulpit and Copper plates given by the Chera king to the Jews according them an equal status as the nobles, allowing them to practice their faith and permission to cover their heads with the kippah. After taking quite a few pictures, I left the place.
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| Paradesi Synagogue |
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| Jew Town entrance |
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| A pot used for burials |
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| A door at the Synagogue |
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| At an antique store |
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| Streets of Jew Town |
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| Spices |
With ample time at my disposal I decided to pay a visit to the LuLu Mall, which is supposedly the largest mall in India. The only recommendation at LuLu Mall was to witness the Hypermarket. True to the name, the market was HUGE and being Sunday it was crowded. The diversity of the market left me agape. You get Durians and other exotic fruits too. I could understand that 30 varieties of fish existed that the people in Kochi loved. The meat refrigerator seemed like an anatomy exhibition with each part of the animal separately packed. The dry fruits area had everything from the Middle East and the markets of Istanbul. It was good to watch but almost tough to buy. And after spending a couple of hours there, I proceeded to catch my train back to Coimbatore.
And with one more place off my check list, a wonderful solo tripping weekend thus came to an end!
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