Synagogue

Synagogue Review

The first migration of Jews to Kerala is thought to have taken place in the 6th century BC, followed by a much larger wave in the 1st century AD, when Jews fleeing Roman persecution in Jerusalem settled at Cranganore (on the coast about 26 km north of Kochi). In the 4th century, the local king promised the Jews perpetual protection, and the colony flourished, serving as a haven for Jews from the Middle East and, in later centuries, Europe. When the Portuguese leader Afonso de Albuquerque discovered the Jews near Cochin in the 16th century, however, he destroyed their community, having received permission from his king to "exterminate them one by one." Muslim anti-Semitism flared up as well. The Jews rebuilt in Mattancherry but were able to live without fear only after the less-belligerent Dutch took control in 1663.

This synagogue was built in 1568 and was considerably embellished in the mid-18th century by a wealthy trader, Ezekiel Rahabi. He had the clock tower built and the floor paved with 1,100 hand-painted, blue-and-white Chinese tiles—each one different. Like the facade, the interior is white with blue trim, embellished with hanging glass lamps from Belgium and a chandelier from Italy; look up at the ladies' gallery for an eye-pleasing row of colored lamps. Ask to see the 200-year-old Torah page, kept behind closed doors. The synagogue's most important relics—the impressive copper plates recording the 4th-century decree in which King Bhaskara Ravi Varma guaranteed the Jewish settlers domain over Cranganore—are no longer available for public viewing. You must remove your shoes before entering.