15 January Kochi
We did our own things today—the women went shopping while
I made a sightseeing walking tour of surrounding Fort Cochin. I started at the
Indian Naval Maritime Museum, housed in a couple concrete bunkers. Indoor
exhibits tell the story of Indian maritime history and the outdoors areas have a
helicopter, ship models, guns, and missiles.
The AK-230
Anti-aircraft gun is still in service on minesweepers and LST craft.
It can
fire 1,000 rounds per minute up to 4 kilometers. In the background you can
see a British-built bunker that now houses exhibits of the Indian Naval Maritime
Museum.
I then walked along the northwestern shore past an old and neglected-looking Dutch cemetery, Mahatma Gandi Beach, and a shore path to parked fishing canoes and the famous Chinese fishing nets.
The neglected Dutch
cemetery, consecrated in 1724
Here on the
northwest corner of Cochin one can watch ships come and go.
Chinese
cantilevered fishing nets require four people to operate!
A detour inland brought me to St. Francis Church, said to be the oldest European church of India.
St.
Francis Church dates from the mid-16th century, replacing
the wooden church
built in 1503 by Portuguese Franciscan friars.
Tombstones inside
include that of explorer Vasco da Gama, who
died in Cochin in 1524, though
his remains were later moved to Lisbon.
The Indo-Portuguese Museum, near the Bishop’s House, has a beautiful collection of one of India’s earliest Catholic communities with altar pieces, vestments, gilt monstrance, sculptures, and paintings. I then wandered over to Santa Cruz Basilica, a grand building with fine architecture and colorful interior that dates back to 1505, became a cathedral in 1558, and replaced by the current building, consecrated in 1905.
Saint Elisabeth,
Queen of Portugal; gilt and polychrome painted wood
(18th century) at the
Indo-Portuguese Museum
Banner of the
Confraternity of Saint Francis Xavier; polychrome painting on wood
(19th
century) at the Indo-Portuguese Museum
Banner of the
Confraternity of Saint Sebastian; oil on canvas
(18-19th century) at the
Indo-Portuguese Museum
School is out!
Santa Cruz Basilica is on the right in the background.
Santa Cruz Basilica
dates to 1505 with the present building consecrated in 1905.
Inside Santa Cruz
Basilica
In late afternoon Glenda and Julie returned to the homestay to freshen up and
finish packing before heading out to the airport tonight for their long flights
home. I had intended to leave by train this evening for the famous temple town
of Madurai, but no ticket was available, so I will stay another night at the
homestay, then get on the train tomorrow night. That will give me another day at
Fort Cochin, which is good. Again our ever-helpful host at the homestay had the
connections, and got my ticket from an agent.
16 January Ernakulam to Madurai on Guruvayur Chennai Egmore Express 16128
Temporary art exhibits of the Kochi Biennale took place in the Cochin area, and
I dropped by many of them. One of the best was ‘Postcards from Home’ by painter
and photographer Manisha Gera Baswani. Born to parents of pre-Partition India,
she photographed 47—the year of the Partition—artists of India and Pakistan and
gathered their personal or family stories of partition. “The intent is to
intrigue and invite viewers to these visual frames of nostalgia, to rekindle
love and memories wherever these postcards reach and hopefully, touch a cord and
revive the shared connection of a common history.”
POSTCARDS FROM HOME
I then visited other art exhibits of the Kochi Biennale, including at the main venue of Aspinwall House by the north shore. In the evening a taxi took me back to to the train station in Ernakulam to board the Guruvayur Chennai Egmore Express 16128. As usual for long overnight train rides, I had gotten a berth in a two-tier air-conditioned car. It was comfortable enough, but the cold air made my throat sore.
On to Tamil Nadu State: Madurai’s Tirumalai Nayak Palace and Meenakshi Amman Temple
Back to Beginning of South India Backpacking Dec. 2018-Jan. 2019