Kochi, the fashion destination in South

India
Between a European colonial past that beats strongly and a thriving artistic
present, the city where traditional Indian medicine was born intoxicated with
its mixture of colors and fragrances

A houseboat crosses one of the navigable canals of the State of Kerala, in southern India. GETTY IMAGES

LONELY PLANET

27 FEB 2020 - 00:00 CET

Decades ago, the most alternative travelers made Goa's beaches

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fashionable. It was a more bohemian and alternative trip to India, apart
In lonelyplanet.es from the historical and cultural circuits of the north. Now it seems that
and in the new
guides of India and
the turn has come to the coast of Kerala, in the south of the country,
the best of India and in particular to Kochi, a city that attracts a traveler who seeks
different experiences in more relaxed destinations. In addition, Kochi
has been chosen by Lonely Planet as one of the 10 cities in the world
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worth discovering in 2020 .

Located on the tropical coast of Malabar (Kerala), the former colonial

Cochin has become in recent years a brand new example of the use of
PHOTOGALLERY Kochi, renewable energy, as it has the first airport in the world that works
among the 30 best
totally with solar energy, which He was awarded the 2018
destinations for 2020
Champions of the Earth prize awarded by the United Nations . But this
is only the tip of the iceberg. With bohemian cafés, accommodations in
private homes located in peaceful colonial-era streets and a handful of art galleries, this city
remains true to its heritage while firmly embracing a new modernity. In 2020, urban art will
enter the scene at the Kochi-Muziris Biennial , placing India on the map of contemporary art
festivals.

A canoe on one of the characteristic 'backwaters' or navigable canals in Kerala. TITO KOCHUVEETTIL (ALAMY)

'Backwaters', plantations and beaches in Kerala

Kerala, the state of southern India where Kochi is located, is a strip of land that covers about
600 kilometers of wonderful beaches overlooking the Arabian Sea . For many travelers is
a haven of peace and tranquility, a feeling that is accentuated to the surf languid network of
backwaters sparkling water ( backwaters ) and visit tea plantations and spices covering the
mountains that rise behind the Oriental Ghats, with its natural reserves and its fresh
mountain seasons. They say it is the most beautiful state in southern India, also the least
poor, with a comforting greenery in the shade of palm trees that makes the traveler
reconcile after the accelerated pace of other more bustling areas of the second most
populous country on Earth.
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Kerala treasures a fascinating story whose imprint is present in cities as evocative as

Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) or Kochi itself. Beyond the backwaters ( navigable
channels that run parallel to the Arabian Sea), we can find other incentives to make Kerala
our ideal destination. Among its powerful claims is its gently spicy cuisine and Ayurvedic
treatments (Ayurveda, the traditional medicine of India, was born here). We will also be able
to observe wild elephants in freedom in the nature reserve of Wayanad , 110 kilometers
long, where exotic birds also liveand the occasional tiger .

If we do not dare with such nature, we have

interesting traditions full of color such as
Kathakali , a mixture of theater and dance
originating in this area of India that uses gestural
language, makeup and a very ornate costume to
tell epic stories in which Legendary heroes fight
against the forces of evil. The parties and regattas
of the so - called snake-boats ( chundan vallam ) An artist with a colorful make-up face prepares
fill with life even the smallest and most remote to perform the traditional Mayilattam dance.
GETTY IMAGES
villages, especially in summer. The so-called
backpacking paradises are now on the beaches of
Kovalam and Varkala , until relatively quiet fishing villages, where there is now a flourishing
world ofAyurveda and yoga therapies .

Despite having a population that exceeds 35 million people , Kerala is possibly the quietest
state in the country, with 900 kilometers of interconnected rivers, lakes, canals and lagoons
surrounded by coconut palms and picturesque villages. The best way to explore this
waterlogged rural world is aboard a houseboat and let the days flow while we surrender to
the contemplation of timeless-looking villages, feasts based on seafood curries and restful
dreams under the stars.

Fishing boats docked in the town of Chellanam, near Kochi. GETTY IMAGES

Kochi, open city

The first to arrive called her Cochin. It was the first European colonial settlement in India,
where the Portuguese arrived at the beginning of the 16th century (1503), to later assign the
witness to Dutch and British. The Basque explorer of Gama (1467-1524) and the Navarrese
missionary of the Society of Jesus San Francisco Javier (1506-1552), better known by the
nickname of Apostle of the Indies, passed through here .

Key city in the spice trade , for more than 600

years it has attracted merchants, explorers and
travelers. Located in a splendid estuary on the
coast of Kerala, Kochi is still a very special city,
with an incredible mix of cultures : giant Chinese
fishing nets, a 450-year-old synagogue, old
mosques, Portuguese and Dutch times houses
and Ruinous remains of the Raj, the British Crown
Spices stand in the Jewish district of Kochi.
TIBOR BOGNAR (GETTY IMAGES) Government in India.
 Emerging from the great flood of the Periyar River
in 1341, the city has about 200 renovated colonial villas , ranging from the intimate to the
ancient and the boutique-chic style . These are private accommodations where the hosts
offer sumptuous breakfasts, endless stories and advice on Kerala's cuisine.

Kochi is a cultural exception that pivots effortlessly between past and present, heritage and
hipster , urban and nature. There Christians, Jews, Hindus and Muslims live in harmony .
You can be visiting the oldest church in India and, after a while, be touring the spice bazaars
of Mattancherry, full of synagogues, or renting a boat to cross the waters full of water lilies
when it gets dark and begins the bid (prayer) of the twilight. Kochi is also an important
center of Kerali arts (traditional and contemporary) and as a destination to see shows of
Kathakali (classical dance-theater of mythological themes) and Kalarippayat (traditional
martial arts).

The iconic Chinese fishing nets of Fort Cochin at sunset. GETTY IMAGES

The Portuguese, Dutch and British heritage of Fort Cochin

The most European part of the city is called Fort Cochin and includes a couple of small
sandy beaches, perfect to merge with the locals at sunset and contemplate the arrival of the
tankers. A popular promenade winds from the beach of Mahatma Gandhi , on the west
coast, to the picturesque Chinese fishing nets and the fish market, where the catch of the
day is sold, which can then be tasted for very little money in one of the simple restaurants
from nearby Tower Road .
The emblem of the city, and specifically of Kochi backwaters , are the Chinese fishing nets (
cheena vala) , perhaps its most photographed motif. These are half a dozen giant cantilever
nets anchored on the northeast shore of Fort Cochin, a legacy of the merchants of the court
of Kublai Khan, the first Chinese emperor of the Yuan dynasty ( 1271-1294). At 10 meters
high, they resemble huge spider webs that rest on teak or bamboo sticks . It takes five or
six people to handle the counterweights with high tide. At dusk they can be photographed
silhouetted over a golden orange sky.

To soak up the Portuguese heritage we can go to

the church of San Francisco, which the
WHEN TO GO TO KOCHI
Franciscans built in 1503 and which is listed as the
oldest European temple in India . The current The high season to visit this area
faded yellow building was built in the mid-16th of South India goes from
December to March, with warm
century to replace an old wooden chapel,
days, cool nights, expensive
although the Dutch and British would later modify accommodations and mass
it. The remains of the explorer Vasco da Gama , events such as the Kochi- Muziris
Biennial and the costume parades
who died in Cochin in 1524, rested there 14 years
and elephants of the Kochi
before they were transferred to Lisbon, and his Carnival. From July to November
tombstone is still there. E n the tranquil garden of the rains of the monsoon and the
the house of the bishop can visit the Indo- occasional cyclone arrive.
Accommodation in private homes
Portuguese museum, where there are also traces
is a bargain from April to June,
of the first Catholics in India. when the temperature rises.

We also find the Dutch in their graves, specifically

in the Dutch cemetery , consecrated in 1724, near the beach of Kochi. There remain the
worn tombstones reminiscent of the merchants and soldiers of the Netherlands.

The English arrived later in Kochi and in some cases demolished the previous thing and
reconstructed in another style. Like the Basilica of Santa Cruz , 1902, built on a Portuguese
church of the fourteenth century that the British threw to build another, also Catholic, in
neoclassical style, with a pastel-colored interior that houses pieces from different historical
periods.

To take the pulse of Kochi's modernity you need to visit its art galleries, such as the David
Hall Gallery . in front of the Plaza de Armas, in a beautiful bungalow built on what were three
houses of the Dutch era built in turn with the remains of demolished Portuguese churches.
Now it is a cultural center where emerging artists exhibit. The Kashi Gallery is the pioneer
of the cultural resurrection of Fort Cochin and exhibits itinerant samples of local artists in a
creatively restored Dutch house, next to one of Kerala's most fabulous cafés, the Kashi Art
Café , a space full of natural light , with zen atmosphere and a vertical garden.
 A 13th-century fresco depicts the gods Shiva and Parvati in the Mattancherry Palace, in Kochi. SOLTAN FRÉDÉRIC (GETTY
IMAGES)

Mattancherry and the Jewish Quarter

About 32 kilometers southeast of Fort Cochin we find Mattancherry , the former bazaar
district and epicenter of the spice trade. It is still full of condiment stores but also large and
expensive cashmere shops. If they look like a tourist, the drivers of the autorickshaws (as
the tuk-tuk or motorized tricycle vehicles are known in India ) will do everything possible to
take you there and get a commission. In fact, any cheap circuit in the neighborhood includes
the unavoidable visit to a few stores.

In the middle of Mattancherry stands the Jewish quarter of Jew Town , a bustling port area
with a spectacular synagogue. In its streets, lots of small businesses are crowded with old
dilapidated buildings and the atmosphere is full of strong aromas of ginger, cardamom,
cumin, turmeric and cloves. Further south is the old Muslim neighborhood of Kochi.

The Mattancherry Palace , now converted into a museum, was the generous gift offered to
the Rajah of Kochi, Veera Kerala Varma (1537-1565), as a gesture of goodwill by the
Portuguese in 1555, although the Dutch reformed in 1663. It combines the styles Europeans
and Keralis, but the most interesting are the Hindu murals of the royal chambers, dated
between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries and surprisingly well preserved,
representing legends of the sacred and epic texts of the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and
the Puranas, with intricate details and colorists.
The other icon of the neighborhood is the Pardesi synagogue. It was built in 1568 but the
Portuguese destroyed it a century later and the Dutch rebuilt it a little later when they took
the city. The elaborate floor tiles , hand painted with willow motifs, from Canton (China)
and added in 1762 during a major remodeling stand out. The synagogue is superbly lit by
Belgian chandeliers and colored glass lamps . The majority of Kochi Pardesis Jews have
emigrated, but the synagogue remains intact.

Finally, two places to eat and enjoy the atmosphere of the area: the Mocha Art Café and the
Ginger House. The Mocha is a magnificent spice warehouse from three centuries ago, with
several Dutch-style rooms, where the synagogue rabbis lived, and today has a
contemporary touch with exposed brick walls and vertical gardens. The Ginger House,
hidden behind a huge warehouse, proposes us to eat among antiques.

A man practices a yoga posture on the beach of Fort Cochin. LEISA TYLER (GETTY IMAGES)

Indian cuisine and Ayurveda yoga

Ayurveda yoga and Indian cooking courses have become one of the magnets for Europeans
who arrive in this area. It is the main claim of Neema's Kitchen , on Vypeen Island, where
popular cooking classes from South India, or Cook & Eat , are offered in Fort Cochin.

In Ayurdara center what they teach is to practice third generation ayurveda and yoga. And at
Loving Earth Yoga they teach Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Hatha and Yin yoga on a cool rooftop next
to a vegan cafe where they serve tapas trays, Buddha bowls and creative salads. In the
Kerala Kathakali Center courses are offered classical dance Kathakali , music and makeup,
as well as martial arts classes Kalarippayat.

Paliam Palace in Chendamangalam. ALAMY

Beaches, temples and synagogues

On the island of Vypeen , 25 kilometers north of Fort Cochin, there is a golden stretch of
sand, Cherai Beach, where more and more people come. There are kilometers of backwaters
and a series of fishing villages now with boutique- style bungalows that do not lack yoga and
meditation sessions , Ayurvedic spas or Franco-Indian restaurants.

Nowhere in India is the religious fabric of the country as evident as here. 40 kilometers from
Kochi, is the town of Chendamangalam, with one of the oldest synagogues in Kerala, in
addition to a Jesuit church and school (in ruins), a Hindu temple on top of a hill overlooking
the Periyar River, a 16th century mosque, and cemeteries of Muslims and Jews. The town of
North Paravur , 20 kilometers from Kochi, where the agraharam (place of brahmins, the
caste of priests, the highest of those that make up Indian society), a little street of brightly
painted houses, is also worth a break. which has its origin in Tamil brahmins. The
Chennamangalam area is famous for its traditionalmanual loom industry , devastated by
flooding in the area in 2018, which caused fear for the livelihood of its 600 workers (almost
all women). Since then, there is an important campaign led by local designers to resurrect
this business driven by women; their chekkutty dolls , made with shattered saris, have
become a symbol of the resistance of the weavers (and of Kerala as a whole).
Hindu temples can be found in Thrissur , a tourist-less place 86 kilometers from Kochi,
where impressive Catholic churches live alongside a complex of Hindu temples, some
ancient. Thrissur was the second capital of the royal family of Cochin in the sixteenth
century and hosts a Christian community of the Nestorian current whose confession dates
back to the third century.

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