Cochin is a handy name for a cluster of islands and towns
sprinkled with shady lagoons, tropical forests and canals winding past houses on
stilts. This is a multicultural land where, in addition to the Jewish sights,
one can see Portuguese churches, Dutch architecture, mosques, Hindu temples and
a British village green.
Like India in general, Cochin is warm and friendly,
with an ancient and multifaceted Jewish community that, tradition relates, is as
old as the Diaspora. It is a city whose indigenous inhabitants have welcomed,
befriended and protected Jews for centuries.
Located in the tropical state
of Kerala and alternately referred to as Venice of the East and queen of the
Arabian Sea, Cochin is one the 3 largest ports on India's west coast and one of
the finest natural harbors in the world. The markets are filled with the scent
of spices and the shouts of vendors; the docks are lined with merchants' houses
and cargo ships and the countryside is sprinkled with shady lagoons and wooded
islands. The crystal-blue sky and tropical foliage, the pastel houses, the
bright raw silk of the clothes and the ever-present smiles blend into one
exquisite rainbow.
History
One legend holds that the Jews first settled in India
during the time of King Solomon, when there was trade in teak, ivory, spices and
peacocks between the Land of Israel and the Malabar Coast, where Cochin is
located. Others put their arrival at the time of the Assyrian exile in 722
B.C.E., the Babylonian exile in 586 or after the destruction of the Second
Temple in 70 CE No reliable evidence exists, but most contemporary scholars fix
the date at some time during the early Middle Ages. It is the bible that
contains the first mention of Jews in connection with India. The Book of Esther,
which dates from the second century B.C.E., cites decrees enacted by Ahasuerus
relating to the Jews dispersed throughout the provinces of his empire from Hodu
to Kush. Hodu is Hebrew for India; Kush is Ethiopia. Talmudic and midrashic
literature also mention spices, perfumes, plants, animals, textiles, gems and
crockery which either bear names of Indian origin or are indigenous to the
country. The earliest documentation of permanent Jewish settlements is on two
copper plates now stored in Cochin's main synagogue. Engraved in the ancient
Tamil language, they detail the privileges granted a certain Joseph Rabban by
Bhaskara Ravi Varma, the fourth-century Hindu ruler of Malabar. According to the
inscription, the ruler awarded the Jews the village of Anjuvannam, meaning "five
castes," as the Jews were believed to be the lords of the five castes of
artisans. The plates also state that Anjuvannam shall remain in the possession
of the descendants of these Jews "so long as the world and moon exist."
Twelfth-century Jewish, Christian and Muslim travelers described Jewish
settlements around Cochin. The main community was in Cranganore, north of
Cochin. For a time the Jews of the Malabar Coast served as a way station to the
Jewish community in China. In 1167 Benjamin of Tudela wrote of 1,000 Jews on the
Malabar Coast "who are black like their neighbors and are good men, observers of
the law, and possess the Torah of Moses, the Prophets, and some little knowledge
of the Talmud and the halakha."
The Jews prospered in Anjuvannam for more
than a thousand years after the grant of the copper plates. Then, with the
extinction of the line of Rabban, dissension arose between two brothers of a
noble family for the chieftanship of the principality The younger brother has
supporters killed many on those who came under his elder brother, and
neighboring princes intervened and dispossessed the Jews. In 1341 the brothers
fled to Cochin with their followers and established the Kochangadi synagogue
there.
In 1524, on the pretext that the Jews were tampering with the pepper
trade, the Moors attacked the remaining Jews of Anjuvannam, burning their homes
and synagogues. The destruction was so complete that when the Portuguese arrived
a few years later they found only destitute Jews, who continued to eke out a
miserable existence for 40 more years. Finally, the remaining Jews deserted
their ancient settlement and fled to Cochin.
As the Portuguese made inroads
along the coast more Jews arrived in Cochin, which remained under Indian
protection. Spanish and Portuguese exiles came after the Inquisition, and others
arrived fleeing persecution in the Middle East. In 1560 the Portuguese set up an
office of the Inquisition in Goa, halfway between Bombay and Cochin, and even
more Jews sought the protection of Cheraman Parumal, the raja of Cochin, soon
labeled the "King of the Jews" by the Portuguese authorities.
The Jews could
not have survived under Portuguese rule (1502-1663) had it not been for Parumal.
In 1565 he gave them a strip of land next to his palace and in 1568 permitted
them to build a synagogue not 30 yards from his temple. He appointed a
hereditary mudaliar (chief) from among the Jews and invested the position with
special privileges and jurisdiction in all internal matters in the Jewish
community. This office continued in force under subsequent rajas and even under
Dutch and British rule. The Hallegua family, which still holds the title,
continues to be influential in Cochin.
Community
At the community's peak in the 1940's there were
approximately 2,500 Jews in the state of Kerala-in Ernakulum, Parur,
Chennamangalam and Mala, all near Cochin City-and 300 in Jew Town. Today, few of
the country's remaining 5,500 Jews live in Cochin- 22, to be exact-and many
predict that the predominantly elderly community will be gone within 25 years.
When India established its independence in 1947, the combination of uncertainty
and the Zionist vision prompted most of Cochin's Jews to make aliya. Many
worried the country would become socialist. Those who stayed behind were the
wealthiest; they did not want to risk losing their fortunes in the move and are
today left with the burden of sustaining the community.
The Cochin Jews were
historically divided into two major communities-the so- called Black Jews, or
Malabaris (85 percent of Cochinis), who regard themselves as the descendants of
the original settlers, and the White Jews, or Paradesim (14 percent),
descendants of immigrants from various Middle East and European countries. There
are also a few Brown Jews, or Meshuhurarum, who are descended from emancipated
slaves. They became spice merchants, business owners and professionals and spoke
the local language-Malayalam-as well as English. The community has never had a
rabbi of its own and was rarely visited by one. Any synagogue elder is eligible
to lead prayers, and the men take turns.
The Jews have adopted and modified
many of their host country's customs. Colorful oil lamps hang from synagogue
ceilings in keeping with Hindu tradition; all synagogues are entered barefoot
and for hardala flowers are sniffed and then tucked into a pocket, signifying
Shabbat's end.
Although Jews, like Christians, are outside India's caste
system, they developed a strict code of their own, which for centuries dictated
that the three communities and their subgroups could not live together,
socialize or intermarry. The divisions between Jews began to break down after
1948, when large scale emigration forced everyone together. The majority of
Jewish marriages are still arranged; married couples and their children live
with the husband's parents. Jewish women now wear bindis, the small marks in the
middle of their foreheads that at one time signified a woman's marital status
but are now merely a fashion statement.
Perhaps the most unique aspect of the Indian Jewish experience is the
complete absence of discrimination by a host majority. The secret of India's
tolerance is the Hindu belief which confers legitimacy on a wide diversity of
cultural and religious groups even as it forbids movement from one group to
another.
Sights
Today Jew Town, in the Mattancherry section and a short walk
from the ferry, is one street long. Jews used to occupy virtually all the houses
on Jew Town Road, where they sold fruits, vegetables and spices or worked as oil
pressers or carpenters. The spice markets are still located on the narrow
street, but most of the homes and businesses belong to non-Jews. Out of seven
synagogues that once graced this street, only the Paradesi is still open.
Entering Jew Town Road where it intersects with Jew Cemetery Road is like
entering another world. Merchants call out from open-air shops, men squat in
doorways or congregate in the middle of the street to smoke their pipes and
gossip, friendly and curious children follow visitors, chattering endlessly, and
three wheeled motorized taxis and bicycles thread their way through the scene.
Anchoring one end of Jew Town, at the end of Jew Cemetery Road, is the
Jewish burial place, with stone sepulchers aboveground and inscriptions in
Hebrew and Malayalam. From there, a walk through several blocks will bring you
to the Magen David decorated, wrought-iron gates of the Paradesi synagogue.
Along the way one can identify buildings that once housed synagogues and prayer
halls-as well as Jewish homes and storefronts-by the still-visible stars and
Hebrew inscriptions and decorations.
Built on land given the Cranganore
exiles by the raja and reconstructed after the Portuguese bombardment in 1662,
the Paradesi is the oldest synagogue in the former British Empire. White-walled
and tile-roofed, with an inner courtyard lined with ancient Hebrew-inscribed
gravestones, it was embellished in the mid eighteenth century by Ezekiel Rahabi,
the Dutch East India Company's principal merchant and diplomat in Malabar, who
built a Dutch-style clock tower with three faces: Hebrew numerals facing the
synagogue, Roman numerals facing the palace and Indian numerals facing the
harbor. Rahabi also had the floor paved with hand painted porcelain tiles, each
with a different weeping willow pattern, brought from Canton. The synagogue also
contains silver- and gold decorated Torah scrolls; an Oriental carpet in front
of the Ark (a gift from Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie), two brass columns
commemorating pillars that stood in the Temple, two bimot (one in the women's
section, a feature unique to the Jews of Kerala) and Torah crowns of solid gold
set with gems given to the Cochini Jews by neighboring rajas. The most striking
feature, however, is the forest of lights hanging from the ceiling-silver, brass
and glass oil-burning lamps and Belgian crystal chandeliers. In addition, the
Paradesi houses 10 paintings which depict the history of the Jews of Kerala, as
well as the 1,600-year-old copper plates-deposited in an iron box called a
pandeal and carefully guarded by the elders-which are shown to visitors on
request.
The Paradesi celebrated its four hundredth anniversary in 1968;
Prime Minister Indira Ghandi attended the festivities and the Indian government
issued a commemorative postage stamp for the occasion. The synagogue, which has
been declared a protected monument, is open Sunday through Friday, 10 to noon
and 3 to 5 P.M., in addition to Shabbat and Jewish holidays. The Indian
government's corporal guard remains on watch over the sights of Jew Town and
have promised to do so until eternity.
Side Trips
Across the harbor from Cochin is Ernakulam, which once
had a thriving Jewish community. The Thekumbagum synagogue, on Jew Street
(Market Road), was built in 1580. Today the building is empty but eerily
beautiful as it awaits dismantling and shipping to Israel. The Kadavumbagham
synagogue, also on Jew Street a short distance away, is reputed to have been
built in 1200. Rebuilt in 1554, it was closed in 1972, when its Torah scrolls
were sent to the Cochini synagogue near Beersheba. Today the building, which
still has an intact ark and Hindu-style ceiling lamps, houses a plant nursery.
General Sights
If you travel by Indian Air (Tel: 352065) you will
arrive on Willingdon Island, created from material dredged while deepening
Cochin Port. Regular ferry services offer inexpensive backwater cruises. At
Vypeen Island, which faces the sea, fishermen still use ancient Oriental-style
nets. Gundu Island, at five acres the smallest around Cochin, houses a coir
(coconut fiber) factory which produces beautifully made doormats. At Bolghatty
Island, the most beautiful of the lot, is the Bolghatty Palace. Built by the
Dutch in 1744, it later became the seat of the governor between 1797 and 1948
when the British ruled India. Today it has been converted into the Bolghatty
Palace Hotel (350003) There are many sights of interest closer to Jew Town on
Mattancherry. The Paradesi synagogue and watchtower are separated by a stone
wall from the former palace and private Pazhayannur Sri Krishna Temple of the
Maharajah of Cochin. The palace, built by the Portuguese and given to the Cochin
raja in 1555, was renovated by the Dutch in 1663. Today known as the Dutch
Palace, it is a public museum, while the temple complex is open to all Hindus.
According to a congregant, "While worshipping in the synagogue, we often hear
their music and prayers, and they can hear us, too." Kerala is home to about 30
miles of backwaters that snake the length and breadth of the state. Alappuzha,
"the rice bowl of Kerala," is in the heart of it all. It is interspersed with 65
canals and 12 villages set among paddy fields and is a wonderful place to take a
boat tour (Kerala Tourism Development Corp.,353-234)
Reading
The Last Jews of Cochin: Jewish Identity in Hindu India
(University of South Carolina Press), co-authored by Nathan Katz and Ellen
Goldberg, chronicles the generations of Cochin's unique Jewish community which
once flourished in a predominantly Hindu society and then declined into near
extinction. Baumgartner's Bombay (Knopf), by Anita Desai, is a touching novel
about German Jewish refugees in India. Gay Courter's novel Flowers in the Blood
(Dutton), set partly in Cochin, provides a rich portrait of a prominent Jewish
family from Calcutta.
Recomendations
A knowledgeable guide is a must, and there is
only one Jewish travel agency in India that takes visitors on a tour of the
Jewish places of interest in Cochin, Bombay, Delhi and Calcutta. Tov Tours, B-9,
New Empire Premises, Kondivita St., Bombay 400 059 (tel: 6300750), also
specializes in taking non-Jewish Indians to Israel. Owner Clement Aaron, a
member of Bombay's Benei Israel community, navigates the teeming streets of
India describing Indian and Jewish customs and patiently answering questions. In
addition, the India Government Tourist Office, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New
York, N.Y. 10112, is an excellent resource (212-586-4901)
Never forget
that Cochin is 10 degrees north of the equator and hot. The best time to visit
is during the winter, especially in December when the weather is pleasantly
resort-like. The Taj Mahal Hotel on Willingdon Island is first class, with a
spacious lawn right on the water . There are no kosher restaurants in Cochin.
Although immunizations are not required they are strongly recommended. In
addition, bottled water is a must, and tourists find it convenient to carry
tissues and premoistened towelettes.
Many bring along dozens of pens, the
brighter the better, as the more rural it gets the more the children plead for
them, and the radiance of each smile is well worth the price of the pen. People
welcome visitors with such sincerity and joy it is impossible not to afford a
small part of Cochin a permanent place in one's heart.
