Rachel's Rajasthan

Rachel came to India for Easter, and during the time she was here we spent almost a week in Rajasthan.  We flew to Udaipur and spent 3 days there, then travelled to Jodhpur via Kumbalgarth and Ranakpur.  Rachel takes great photos, so I'm publishing some of them on the blog.

Women and Children

Windows and Doors

Buildings

 Daily Life

 Miscellaneous

Mattancherry - Kerala

On our last day in Kerala we took the ferry over again, but instead of turning towards Fort Cochin, we turned in the opposite direction towards Mattancherry.  This place, sometimes called "Jew Town" had a very different feel about it.  In Mattancherry we went around the Dutch Palace, which was actually built by the Portuguese but restored by the Dutch in the 17th century.  We were not allowed to take photos inside the palace.  There are many murals inside the palace that tell the story of the Ramayana and the Mahabharatha.  These are in the style of Hindu temple art.

While in Mattancherry we also tried to go to the Jewish Synagogue, but unfortunately it was a Jewish holiday and so it was closed.

The Backwaters of Kerala

Jill, Evelyn, Lex and I went on a boat trip around the backwaters of Kerala.  We actually went on 2 boats - in the morning we were on a very small boat and travelled along small waterways, hopping off at various villages.

The first village we stopped at was where women made rope out of copra (the inside of coconut husks).  The women go through a long procedure of soaking the husks to make them usable, and then twisting the strands into rope - which is actually very strong.  This is used in a variety of ways, including something called geotex which is put alongside the banks to stop erosion.

 

Meanwhile the "flesh" of the coconut is dried in the sun and then send to a factory.  The coconut oil is removed, leaving dessicated coconut.  The brown outside of the coconut can be used as firewood and as a fertilizer.

Clothes are washed in the local waterway

After visiting the rope making village and another village where different spices were grown (pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg) we took another boat over to an island where we had a local lunch.

After lunch we set off on a larger boat down a river.  It was a slow, but very relaxing, journey.

Kathakali

On our first night in Kerala we went to a Kathakali performance.  This is a highly stylized classical Indian dance noted for the make-up of its characters, elaborate costumes, detailed gestures and body movements.  It originated in Kerala during the 17th century.  We were able to turn up an hour before the performance to look at the artists putting on their make-up.

Kathakali is usually performed in front of the huge lamp with a thick wick sunk till the neck in coconut oil. Traditionally, this lamp used to provide only light when the plays used to be performed inside temples, palaces or houses.  

A distinguishing characteristic of this art form is that the actors never speak but use hand gestures, expressions and rhythmic dancing instead of dialogue.  A Kathakali actor trains for about 8 - 10 years.  The entire story is acted purely by the movement of the hands (mudras) and facial expressions (rasas). 

Fort Cochin - Kerala

Lex and I went to Kochi (or Cochin as it was previously called) for the recent long weekend.  We flew down early on Friday morning and then back again on Sunday evening.  Although it was only 3 days away we got to see a lot of this part of Kerala.  On the Friday morning itself we took the ferry from near our hotel across to Fort Cochin.  

In Fort Cochin we wandered up to the cultural centre to investigate booking tickets for the Kathakali dance performance in the evening and booking for a boat trip through the backwaters the following day.  The cultural centre was a great place to start our trip.

Kochi is a major port city.  Back in the 1500s the first European settlement in India was here as the Portuguese arrived with Pedro Cabral.  Portuguese rule was then followed by the Dutch, and finally the British.



Kochi is famous for its spices.  You can't go far without seeing a multitude of shops selling all sorts of local spices.  The smells are amazing.

















As we walked further along the main street we came to the area of the Chinese Fishing Nets.  These were a gift from the court of Kublai Khan, the Chinese ruler.  They work on a system of balancing counter weights to submerge them in the water as a way of catching fish.

         

Following lunch at a restaurant called Teapot, we proceeded to walk further around Fort Cochin.  We went to St Francis Church, which is the first and oldest European church built in India.  It was originally dedicated to St Andrew under the Portuguese, but later changed to St Francis by the English (after the Franciscan friars who built it).  Vasco da Gama was buried here for 14 years after he died on his third voyage to India.  Although his remains were later taken to Portugal, his gravestone can still be seen in the churchyard.

I liked Fort Cochin a lot - I found it a quirky little place (as can been seen by the local reading room below with a huge picture of Che Guevera there).