A walk through Mattancherry - the warehouse island of Kochi
The Charm of Lemon and Chilies that brings good luck and keeps away evil eyes off the prosperity, alone wouldn't have been enough to fight the foreign invasion over Trade and Commerce in Kochi in the past.
These wonderful Indian traditions are leftovers from our glorious past and that is exactly what you will find when you take a walk through the narrow roads of Mattancherry. Passing warehouse after warehouse most of which are nearing its state of abandonment or conversion, Mattanchery holds stories in every little corner of hers.
Kochi, Kochchi, Kochazhi,Cochym
names are several for modern day Cochin. No account of a place named
Mattanchery is found in any history books until the Portuguese invasion. The
only proof of a stone age existence of a land nearby comes from the menhirs and
dolmens found near Tripunithura, Vennala and Kodanadu in Ernakulam.
Old buildings on the banks of Kalvathi Canal, an entry point to spice trade in the past.
“Very little is known about the
history of Cochin prior to the arrival of the Portuguese as neither
inscriptions nor literary works throw much light. Cochin is not even mentioned
in any of the earlier foreign notices of Malabar. Neither in the accounts of
Pliny, Ptolemy, Marco Polo or Ibn Batuta do we find any mention, though they
give detailed accounts of places situated to the north and south of Cochin.
Though it is generally believed that Cochin port was formed only as late as
1341 there is also the possibility of its existence as a small harbour even
earlier. In 1341 the heavy floods that took place in the Periyar River silted
up Cranganore Harbour (Kodungallur). Useless for purposes of trade, this
decline in the importance of Cranganore led to Cochin’s rise into prominence
and commercial supremacy.”
Info on Cranganore Fort : http://kochimuziris.blogspot.in/2012/12/remains-of-cranganore-fort.html
The name Mattanchery comes into
main frame during the Dutch and Portuguese period as a trade emporium
specifically dealing with spices.
When The Rajas of Perumpatappu
Swaroopam from their ancestral place of Chitrakootam in Vanneri then migrated to the emerging harbor town of
Kochazhi (meaning Small Sea in Malayalam) the modern day Fort Kochi, and made
it their royal head quarters, Mattanchery falling towards south of this
new formed island became an ideal location for warehousing the trade goods.
Once a window to the world of spice trade, today, several functional and
nonfunctional warehouses still remain in Mattanchery with its shady colonial
architecture modified and redesigned over a period of time. Many of them have
been converted into tourist attractions and Art Galleries and the ongoing Kochi
Muziris Biennale is the latest and by far the largest event to acknowledge the
mysterious historical account of Kochi and Muziris.
Portuguese political artist Rigo 23's work installed at the remains of Kalvathi Canal Dockyard in Mattancherry. Rigo 23's installation work has three parts one of which depicts the myth of Kappiri the slave killed by the Portuguese before leaving Kerala. Some people in west Kochi still believes that the Souls of Kappiris are guarding their masters treasures which are hidden under ground and some claims to have seen him on top of certain trees during some evenings.The myth of Kappiri is a legacy of
165 year long Portuguese domination over Kerala, a battle that began in 1498.
How to get there :
The easiest route is via ferry service Ernakulam Boat Jetty which takes you directly to Fort Cochin - Mattancheryy. The route via road is lengthy and often hectic due to heavy city traffic.
Note : If you had tried to count the chilies in the first image and thought there are only six in it, appreciate your sense but there is a small chili hidden underneath which is not quite visible in the image.
