History Fascinates

 History Fascinates - Visit to a Synagogue in Cochin,  Kerala

By Dr. V. Venkateswaran 



Mattanchery Synagogue

There is an ancient Synagogue in Cochin, Kerala, West India, which I visited.  History is fascinating, but people never learn from it, a pity.

In the early 1500s, people of the Jewish Faith migrated from the Middle East to Kerala in India because of atrocities against them in the Middle East. They were both white & black Jewish people. The king/chieftain of Cranganore welcomed them & gave them asylum & they were happy. 

But in 1505, the Portuguese landed in Ceylon & soon found their way to India too. Initially, they colonized Goa. They also moved down to the Cranganore area & with the help of the local population (a large number had been converted to Catholicism by then) committed atrocities on the existing Jewish people. They were chased away & ran away by sea to Cochin, a port also in Kerala. They settled in Mattanchery & built their community & it was called Jew Town & built this Synagogue in 1568. A church for St Francis also came up nearby. 

After the creation of Israel (they had many original religious books with  with them) many of them along with a big Jewish community in Bombay & Bangalore migrated to Israel. There apparently colour discrimination took place, so the white Jews stayed behind but the black Jews returned. But there was always a segment of the white Jews who couldn’t afford to migrate & stayed behind. As time went they migrated to other cities in India itself like Bombay & Bangalore.


It was my great desire always to see this place. I made it a point to go there & visit. It was fascinating. The community has only 25 surviving members. Along with me came members of the Faith from Austria & Germany & other European countries. The population around that little township was characteristic of physiognomic features but could speak only the local dialect. There was no Rabbi, but only a lay preacher. They received no endowment or support from the government in spite of it being a prestigious & heritage site


They depended only on the donations from visitors. The government of India does not want any involvement in it because Kerala is a highly Christian & Muslim-populated state. It’s such a pity. But the St Francis Church close by is a heritage site as recognized by the government.

I asked some of the overseas visitors whether they or their government could do anything to prevent the total decline. They said that it would be interpreted as interference from a foreign country.



The tiles on the floor are all individually handcrafted having been imported from China. Along the walls hang tapestries giving the history of the place. Photography (like all historical sites) was prohibited.

The guide mentioned that the Great Scrolls of the Old Testament had been there & the Copper plates on which the rulers were recorded.


Strange, a few years ago I had been to Barcelona & I think it was somewhere in Toledo. There was a small synagogue built by the Moors & therefore had the Moorish architectural style. Strange I thought. Later on, it was converted to a Catholic Church & still later as a Tourist attraction. 


In every country I visit, I make it a point to visit the local important synagogue. Jewish history fascinates me, a history of resilient human nature, who have given so much to the world but got back very little.





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