Cochin/ Kochi
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
What makes the city great
2019: Among world’s Top 10 cities
NS Madhavan, Oct 26, 2019: The Times of India
Key Highlights
What Ibn Batuta failed to notice, 678 years later, the Lonely Planet did
So what is it with Kochi? You can’t really put your finger on it. It is that intangible something; something not instagrammable
Ibn Batuta missed Kochi as he travelled from Kozhikode to Kollam by the backwaters. The itinerant Moroccan scholar cannot be faulted for the omission, because Kochi, as we know today, was either not born or just born. It was only in 1341, around the time when Ibn Batuta travelled through the Malabar coast, the famous Kochi sandbar breached and a new natural harbour was formed.
What Ibn Batuta failed to notice, 678 years later, the Lonely Planet did. For the ‘backpacker’s bible’, Kochi is one of its 2020 destination picks. But why? You can’t be hauled over the coals if you wonder so. What is in it for a traveller in a beach town with hardly any beach? Or a place with no night life? A town with a bazaar that gives the impression that it has seen better days? As for quaint buildings and warehouses of colonial times, you can spot many or even more elegant edifices in old outposts from Hormuz to Melaka. Its historical connection? Vasco da Gama, who died here in 1524, had left behind an empty sarcophagus at the local church.
So what is it with Kochi? You can’t really put your finger on it. It is that intangible something; something not instagrammable. It is will-o-the-wispy nothing that probably appeals to a large section of the twenty-first century travellers who are no longer in search of anything. I guess when travel is affordable, and more frequent, been-there-done-that kind of tourism doesn’t make much sense. They are probably looking for a place high on chill quotient, and Kochi seems to fit the bill.
Soon after the opening up of the port in the early 14th century, sea trade from Kochi picked up. Earliest transactions were with China, Persia and Arabia. Ma Huan, a Chinese Muslim voyager, visited Kochi twice, in 1413 and 1421, as member of the entourage of the legendary Chinese admiral Zheng He, and left behind the first available written account of the city by a foreigner. He mentions about five different categories in Kochi society, hierarchically arranged, starting with Nairs, who enjoyed almost equal status with the royalty. Second category was the Muhammadans. Ma Huan noted that the third, Chetties were very wealthy. Then he mentions a group called ‘kolingas’, whose main source of income was from brokerage. Fifth were lowly fisherfolk, the untouchables, who had to prostrate on the ground at the sight of upper caste gentry and who were not allowed to construct their huts more than three feet high.
This was the snap of Kochi society in the fifteenth century, before the Portuguese came. Presence of non-natives like Chetties and Kolingas, shows that even at that time, Kochi was exhibiting its welcoming lack of xenophobia. Ma Huan had certainly missed the native Christians and Jews: the latter came to Kochi to escape religious persecution.
The new port brought in more trade, more people, more ideas and, inescapably, invaders. The Portuguese, the Dutch and the English carved out equal slices of history, in about 450 years of imperial dominance over Kochi. More refugees came to Kochi, this time, Konkanis from Goa, fleeing from the Inquisition of the Portuguese. As for majority of the population, the left-outs — untouchable fisher people — Christianity elevated them socially. The Hindu kings of Kochi did not hinder Christian missionaries from harvesting native souls.
Violence did happen in Kochi, but it was mostly between colonial powers. Its bloodiest night happened in 1663, when Presbyterian Dutch wrested power from Catholic Portugal. As for diverse cultures within Kochi, they lived in harmony through the centuries. For its residents, Ashish Nandy claims, the city “is the ultimate symbol of cultural diversity and religious and ethnic tolerance.”
Social formation over centuries has resulted in a certain cosmopolitanism, making it comfortable for travellers, probably why the city has made into the Lonely Planet list. At other places you can be wonderstruck by monuments, beaches, waterfalls or mountains. But in Kochi, you can soak in the atmospherics, the beguiling charm of quiet urbanism.
Finally, a cautionary note: how long will this Kochi last? In the last decade, there have been persistent efforts to make Kochi mimic big metros. The government and its bureaucrats have already fenced its most famous public space, the Parade Ground, making it inaccessible to people. An assault is now planned on the Chinese nets. Yes, the Chinese nets, the signature of the city. They want to build a jetty, right in the middle, fracturing the majestic row. Kochi lets you be; you should let Kochi be.
The author is an acclaimed short story writer and novelist
Bridge across Bharathapuzha
Sep 16, 2019: The Times of India
From: Sep 16, 2019: The Times of India
117-year-old Cochin bridge lies in ruins
PALAKKAD: The 117-year-old Cochin bridge across Bharathapuzha that had connected Malabar with Kochi and Travancore in 1902 may soon disappear as most of it has fallen into the river in this year's flood. "Though there were demands to preserve the bridge that had historical and architectural value, no steps were taken by the authorities to protect it from the ruin," said Prasad Shoranur, an environmentalist for the protection of Bharathapuzha and its heritage. In 2009, a pillar of the bridge had collapsed and later many of them collapsed and fell into the river. In last year's flood, its top portions fell into the river, he added. The bridge was constructed by Rama Varma Thampuran, the then ruler of Cochin State who reigned from 1895 to 1914, at a cost of Rs 84 lakh. The first freight train passed through the bridge on June 2, 1902, and on June 16, the first passenger train travelled from Shoranur to Kochi. It was constructed with British assistance by John Kenward, (a concrete contractor from Regina) based on a James Barney Marsh double arch design. It is 300-metre-long with 15 spans. The bridge was closed for traffic in 1989 due to damages and the new Cochin bridge was constructed across Bharathapuzha.
