Paradesi Synagogue, Mattancherry, Kochi

Paradesi Synagogue

Four Centuries of Prayer in Jew Town

At the far end of Kochi's Synagogue Lane — past spice godowns, antique shops, and the Mattancherry Palace — stands a white-walled prayer house the Cochin Jews call our palli. Built in 1568 by Spanish-speaking Sephardic refugees (hence Paradesi, "foreigner"), it is the oldest active synagogue in the Commonwealth of Nations — and the living archive of a thousand years of Jews in Kerala.

Treasures Inside

• The copper plates: 10th-century grants (in Old Malayalam) giving the Jewish leader Joseph Rabban rights over Anjuvannam — among the oldest documents of any Indian Jewish community.
• The floor: over a thousand hand-painted blue Canton tiles — no two alike — brought from China in the 1700s by the merchant Ezekiel Rahabi.
• The light: 19th-century Belgian glass chandeliers; brass-railed pulpit; carved teak ark holding four Torah scrolls in silver and gold casings, with gold crowns gifted by the Rajas of Kochi and Travancore.
• The clock tower (1761): four faces, four numeral systems — Malayalam, Hebrew, Arabic, Roman — restored with its brass bell by the World Monuments Fund in 2006.
• The Kochangadi stone (1344): salvaged from Kochi's oldest synagogue, destroyed in war — displayed on the outer wall.
• An oriental carpet gifted by Haile Selassie, last Emperor of Ethiopia.

The Community

The Paradesi congregation — once spice merchants commanding ocean trade — has nearly all made aliyah since 1948; a tiny community keeps the synagogue, holding services when ten adults (minyan) can gather. Jew Town's remaining life, its songs in Judeo-Malayalam, and the synagogue's serenity draw visitors of every faith.

Visiting

• Open Sunday–Thursday 10 AM–6 PM, Friday till 2 PM; closed Saturdays (Shabbat) and Jewish holidays. Small entry fee.
• Modest dress; men cover heads (caps provided); no photography inside where signed; silence during prayers.
• Combine with the Dutch Palace next door and a ferry across the harbour — Kochi's layered history rewards slow feet.