Photography
JEWS OF MATTANCHERRY
“to look back to antiquity is one thing; to go back to it is another”
You find 30 communities living in Harmony in this 440 km sq of Kochi. We meet all these people as we walk through the bylanes of Mattancherry and Fort Kochi.
The Synagogue celebrated 450 years and Jews and their successive generations on 6 December, 2018. The house of worship was decorated with lights and jasmine flowers, scented with a wick of ‘darbha’ grass, and lamps filled with coconut oil and water; lit the temple.
Usually, at the Synagogue, prayer can generally be held only in the presence of 10 Jews. Unfortunately, only two members of the community live in Kochi. Witnessing the Jewish procession and blessing, I saw the wonder of the Jewish Synagogue’s antique glory when the century-old Belgian Chandeliers were lit, transforming the entire place into a surreal peek into the past.