Title: Mattancherry
Author (s) : Sreejith.K
Girish Krishnan
Gopakumar.K R
Anand.V.Kartha
Mukesh.G
Kiran Raj.P
INDIAVIEWER.COM
The holiday planner
SUKESH KUMAR is a young and dynamic entrepreneur. He started this enterprise in May 2006. This enterprise has now become one of the leading tour operators in Kerala. The organization is located at “Maradu”, near Vytilla, Cochin. They do business mainly through telephone and internet. They have excellent liasoning work with major operators of Delhi and Mumbai. They provide specifications and requirements for various tourists. Then the agency fixes a price for the specified tourists on the relevant profile.
Why this agency?
In recent years, the season has shown a tremendous respect for Cochin through tourist arrivals. India viewer got large set of foreign tourist whom reached Cochin this season. Tourists mainly spend their days in Cochin, and they visited “Mattancherry”, Fort Cochin and Cochin City. Tourists were quite fascinated to see Jews street and they woke up with the shopping desire. Mr. Rajesh is the tour guide. He guided the members of the cruise .It is learnt that they spent around 8 hours in Mattancherry alone. This agency has set out its strategy for promoting Mattancherry as a very important tourist destination.
MATTANCHERRY – THE RISING BEAUTY
With its natural instinct, Mattancherry has set all its habits right to make it as a favourite tourist destination. The city has got a long history of culture and communal harmony. Indians, Jewish and English predominantly stay in this old ancient town. Mattancherry has its back waters vocaling with rich cultural heritage to make it a favorite tourist destination.
Tourist destinations in Mattancherry
1. Mattancherry palace.
2. Jews street.
3. Synagogue.
1. Mattancherry palace
The palace is at a distance of about 12 km from Ernakulam. It was built and presented by the Portuguese to the Raja of Cochin,Vira Keralaverma (1537-1561*) in the year 1555. This was done to appease the king after they plundered a temple near by. The palace was subsequently renovated by the Dutch and it is now popularly known as the Dutch palace.
(* Kerala Varma ruled Cochin during this period)
The nature of its arches and the generous proportion of its chambers indicates a touch of European architecture. The glory of the palace lies in it’s murals and with the best traditions of Hindu temple art, which is religiously decorated. The paintings are mainly based on the mythical stories of Ramayana, Govardhanagiridhari, Umamaheshwaramurti and Sangamesa. These paintings have been done by using natural pigments. The palace has now monuments such as Portraits, Arms, Umbrellas, Palanquins, Textiles, Coins& Stamps. These were used by Kings who had ruled over.
It is learnt that the foreign tourists are highly desirous to know about the murals as compared to domestic tourists
2. Jews street
Jews street is another tourist attraction in Mattanchery. This street was built by Jewish community. According to historians, there were nearly 2,500 Jews in Kerala till the early 1940’s. But after India’s Independence in the year 1947 and with the birth of Israel in 1948, most of the Kochi Jews moved back. There are now 4 Jewish families with a total number of 13 members. The building’s structure has a different style and the shopping culture is quite amazing. Shops are mainly of Heritage, Arts, Antiques, Spices, Traditional Kerala textiles etc…People from Kashmir and other north-eastern part of India come here to trade.
3. Synagogue.
This is another tourist point associated with Jewish community. The Paradesi Synagogue is the oldest synagogue in the Commonwealth of Nations, located in Kochi, Kerala. It was built in the year 1568 by Malabar Cochin Jewish community. Paradesi is a word used in several Indian languages.Literally, it means “foreigners”. The synagogue was historically used by “White Jews”. They were a mixture of Jews from Kodungallur, the Middle East, and European exiles. It is also referred as the Cochin Jewish Synagogue or the Mattancherry Synagogue. This is the only synagogue in use, out of the seven. The complex has four buildings.
It was built quite adjacent to the Mattancherry Palace temple The land for this was gifted to the Cochin Jewish community by the Raja of Kochi, RamaVarma. The Mattancherry Palace temple and the Mattancherry synagogue share a common wall. The Paradesi Synagogue had three classes of members. They all together constitute the Malabar Yehudan or Cochin Jews.
• White Jews, who belong to higher class of professionals and merchants, were full members. The White Jews were mostly descendants from Europe and the middle Eastern Jews made their way to India.
• Black Jews, consisting of traders and craftsmen, were allowed to pray but were not admitted for full membership. The Black Jews were ethnically and physically similar to the gentile Indian population.
As is normal for Orthodox Jewish synagogues, the Paradesi Synagogue has separate seating sections for men and women.
Strength & Opportunities
Strong history with rich cultural heritage makes this place a good tourist destination.
A place near to Ernakulam and Fort Cochin makes Mattanchery a good destination.
Back water facility is obviously a value addition.
A triangular boat service connecting Mattancherry-Fort Cochin and Ernakulam will be a real purposeful mission for improvement.
There will be an overall economic development since a prospective tourist hub.
Weakness & Threats
Unauthorized guides makes things worse.
Foreigners give importance for cleaning and hence effective waste disposal system should be provided.
No good hotel facilities in Mattancherry.
Lack of hygiene consciousness .
Taxi drivers exploits tourists by charging heavily.
No Government owned tourist information system found.
Conclusion
Even though Mattancherry is rising as a favorite tourist destination, there are some drawbacks to be considered. Positive business opportunities happens by having a responsible tourist destination policy. It is really unfortunate and disgusting to hear from foreign tourists that they have not heard the tagline of Kerala tourism as “Gods own country”, “But,Yes, Kerala is the Gods own country in all sorts”, says Mr.Obonica from France, who has been in Kerala for last 5 days.
Courtesy:
Mr. Salim auto driver in Mattancherry
Mr. Krishnan, officer at mattancherry palace
Mr. Obonica, tourist from France.
Mr. Choy and family from Korea.
Mr. Peter and Mr. Milan from Canada
