The jew street of cochin, one of the oldest jewish communitis in the world. Eventhough very few jewish families are remaining there, the place has so many stories to tell us from the past...
The place tells us about the life styles and customs of the communities that coexisted in the past...
The raja of cochin gave land for the jew prince and princess here. The jew community, from then become a part of kerala. The place is still having the charm of the old people happened to live there....
Another thing i got proud of my country is the religious harmony existed their at that time..You can see the jewish Synagogue and the Temple in which the Raja's family members used to worship built up next to each other.
I wonder why don't the present generation get some lessons from the mutual respect and affection that prevailed beyond communities and religion in our country!!!
The photos posted here are taken from the Jew street sides. The streets have turned up into shops selling beautiful wooden sculptures, brass remnants of old houses, spices, hand made items, crockeries, wall lamps etc. Its a pleasent street...and every piece of art there has a story to tell.
Come...Let's have a Walk together.
"I got this in my camera by just a click, but thousands of brush strokes would have been made by the painter!"The painting of Kadhakali which was exhibited outside a shop.. Their are soo many paintings like this out their in the street for sale...
photo by: Georjo
Camera: SonyEricsson w810i(2mp)
focus mode: Auto
"Laurels for your home"These colourful pieces of strings are everywhere and adds attraction to the street..ofcourse these are meant for you people who are ready to buy something decorative..Soo many things like this are there which adds colour to the tradition of the street..
photo by: Georjo
Camera: SonyEricsson w810i(2mp)
focus mode: Auto
"A painters mind and talent in the canvas...Depicting the art of kerala..Kadhakali"Astonishing colour blending to get the 3d effect...Look into the eyes... are they real!!!
This painting was placed along with the painting above, obviously for sale...wanna buy?
photo by: Georjo
Camera: SonyEricsson w810i(2mp)
focus mode: Auto
"Gods in a plank of clay"Small and beautiful makings are all around here in the street..This small depiction of the hindu gods are made in a plank of clay....I think you can see a number of sculptures of Ganapathy all over the place, and in most shops...
photo by: Georjo
Camera: SonyEricsson w810i(2mp)
focus mode: Auto
"They Welcome You Towards An Exhibition In The Shop...."The Elephant threesome made of timber...The symbols of royalty.......This was a huge shop selling the sculptural works and ancient remnants. All the heritage and sculptural skills of Kerala is depicted inside the shop..WEventhough the intention was to promote the sales, its worth a visit into shops like these..You can see things that may be wiped out of our culture as the time advanced.....
photo by: Georjo
Camera: SonyEricsson w810i(2mp)
focus mode: Auto
"That is it...A snap from the Jew Street..."The lane ends in the Jewish Synagogue. Shops are on both sides of the street. Was not soo busy at the time we happened to be their..But later we saw soo many foreigners and peoples from parts of india coming in...Hmm we happened to be their a little bit early than the usual time..
photo by: Georjo
Camera: SonyEricsson w810i(2mp)
focus mode: Auto
"Restless Running For Decades and still at work!!!!!....The clock tower of the Jew Synagogue"Photography was not allowed inside the synagogue..Their is a small paintings gallery showing the paintings of the old map of cochin, the ancient stories of jews, the arrival of jews in kerala, their trades, their living etc etc...
Then you can enter the small synagogue..The synagogue is a small hall with a balcony where the ladies used to sit.The floors are of some special type of tiles with paintings..
The synagogue is about 400 years old and once their was about 7 of them in the street..only this one remains....The interior is decorated with glass candliers bought from belgium..Their are brass columns and torah crowns inside...
The clock tower is of 45 feet and has 4 dials of numerals in Hebrew, Latin, Malayalam and Arabic.
Their are two copper plates preserved from the 4th century showing the previlages given to the Jewish community by the raja of Cochin...
We wondered of the entry ticket rates in these places..Only 2RS/- per head....So many tourist guides describing the peculiarities of the place to foreigners can be seen all over..
photo by: Georjo
Camera: SonyEricsson w810i(2mp)
focus mode: Auto
Thanx for the visit..More photos on Jew street and synagogue in other pages. Just click on.
Pixelshots
Pixelshots
Thank you for the tour! Love the photos!
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