More Kochi

Monday, 20 September 2014

We visited a traditional laundry, the Dhobi Khana, which literally means "washing place". The families working here have been doing this work for generations.

The washing stall. While household washing is done mostly by women, in communal laundries, it seems to be a job for men.

Drying saris on the grass.

Other clothes get dried on clotheslines. The lines are made of twisted coir (coconut fiber) ropes, so no clothespins are needed -- corners on the clothes are slipped into the twists.

Pressing was done by both men and women. Electric irons are available, but most seemed to prefer the old-fashioned very heavy irons that hold hot coals to provide heat.

Just before lunch, we visited "Jew Town". While that sounds a bit politically incorrect to our ears, it's a perfectly acceptable name here. I did not know that until the late 20th Century, Kochi had a sizable Jewish population that has been here since at least the 11th Century. Most have now emigrated to Israel, but there is still an active synagogue. In a trading center like Kochi, Jews, Arabs, Hindus, and Europeans eventually learned to tolerate each other. (There are even two sects of Christians here: "Syrian" Christians that trace their roots to the 1st Century through St. Thomas, and "Latin" Christians from the European powers who came much later. Imagine the Portuguese arriving in southern India and finding Christianity -- of the "wrong" kind -- already there.)

The main street of Jew Town. Lots of shops sell handicrafts and other interesting items.

Most of the shops in this area claim to be "hassle free", which means they do not shout and try to pull you into their shops, although they may gesture wildly.

Sarah, of Sarah's Hand Embroidery Shop, is one of the few Jews remaining in Kochi.

At the end of the lane is the Paradesi Synagogue -- founded in 1568, current building built in 1664. Anyone can enter the synagogue, appropriately dressed, but photographs are not allowed.

The synagogue is on the left. The clock tower is part of the complex.

The clock on this side of the clock tower, facing the public areas of Jew Town, is in Roman and Arabic numerals.

A photo taken from the reception area of the Dutch Palace (which also doesn't allow photography) shows the close proximity of the palace (European), Hindu temple (red roofs in mid-ground), and the synagogue (brown roofs and clock tower). Eventually, the colonial powers (Portuguese, Dutch, and British, depending upon the year) realized that it made more sense to accommodate than to destroy.

The side of the clock tower facing the Hindu temple uses Malayalam numerals. The side facing the synagogue (and thus not photographable) uses Hebrew numerals. The fourth side is blank.