KOCHI OLD TOWN

Chris and I returned from Kumbalangi Village by tuk-tuk to pick up our coach. Our driver described his as a 'Ferrari tuk-tuk and drove it as if he were in a Grand Prix with determination to arrive first - which he did.

We were then bussed to Kochi Old Town where we were first taken into St Francis church. This was originally Catholic under the Portuguese, then became a Protestant Chapel under the Dutch, an Anglican Church under the British and in recent years a centre of worship for the Church of South India.

Its history is much more interesting than the church itself. It's main claim to fame is that the explorer Marco Polo was once buried there but his body was fairly quickly taken back to Portugal. We were more interested in the hanging fans attached to strings, which went through the walls and would have been pulled from outside by the Pankah Wallahs

We walked around the Old Town past the Chinese fishing nets...

...past the fish market...

...the general market...

...and got the coach back to Minerva.

We stayed at Kochi's port overnight and the next morning Liz, Clodagh, Chris and I took two tuk-tuks into the Old Town to an upmarket department store. Yet another hair raising ride, as our respective drivers competed to get there first. Despite all appearances they do drive on the left here - or should do.

We passed locals in their Sunday best...

...and brightly painted lorries parked on their day of rest. We were told that they were painted in different styles depending on whether the driver was Hindu, Muslim or Christian. Even the lorries must enter the religious divides.

Back to Minerva for Sunday lunch of roast beef.

Later on our way again - to our last port in India, Tuticorin.

 

Robert Cole

KOCHI TO KUMBALANGI

Chris and I went to Kumbalangi, a village in central Kerala, to observe the activities of the local people. We first went by bus and then on a canoe trip on the backwaters. We had learned about these in one of Robert Bradnock's excellent lectures. These backwaters run for about 150 miles just inside the coastal strip and have been created from the monsoon rains running off the high Western Ghats, running down the Western side of the Indian Peninsular.

From our canoe, our guide, Jipin, told us about Toddy (Palm wine) tapping. The tips of the flowers of coconut palms are cut off before blooming and bowls left underneath to collect the liquid, which rises up from the roots to the top of the tree. That is collected twice a day and we had a demonstration of a villager climbing up and collecting more than a litre, which we sampled - in fact fairly tasteless!

Throughout our tour of the village activities we learned how there is little of the coconut palm tree which is not used in some way. The coconuts are cut...

...to provide drink...

...the nut is grated to provide food products...

...the shells are exported to make ice cream bowls...

...the fibres are beaten and converted into matts and ropes.

The leaves are used for making brushes...

...baskets...

...plaited to make roofing and...

....apparently the wood makes very good furniture and polishes up with an attractive grain.

What more can be produced from one tree?

In addition we had demonstrations of fishing...

...crab farming...

...clam processing...

...and making biddis (the local hand rolled cigarette)....

....enjoyed by one of our party.

Our visit to the village finished with a folklore dance by young Muslim girls (seen here with a Chinese fishing rig behind) followed by lunch in the gardens.

 

Robert Cole

MANGALORE - JAIN TEMPLES

We had only a morning's stop in Mangalore. Clodagh and Chris opted for a tour of Mangalore and the Jesuit church and a cashew nut factory. The rest of us took the tour out to two Jain Temples and to a farm, which prides itself as a centre for innovative diversity.

We first travelled to a temple at Karkala. Another excellent guide, Rashmi, told us about life in Kerala and also of Jainism whose temples we were visiting today. The Jains do not believe in endangering life of any form and go to extraordinary lengths to avoid doing so. There are two branches of Jainism, Chandranatha and Bahubala. The latter goes completely naked. At the temple grounds we had to climb up more than 200 steps. Rashmi is seen here

At the top we reached the 13 metre high Bahubali statue representing that sect of Jainism that forgoes clothing. We had to remove our shoes to enter the sacred area of the Temple.

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From here there were superb views and one across to another temple set peacefully in the countryside.

Then on to the Soans family farm. They have been associated with the farm since the young Alfred Soans was employed there, in 1928, as an agriculturalist to assist with a project of cultivating non forested grasslands dependent only on the seasonal monsoon rains for water supply. He brought in many innovations and later took charge of the project and was granted a lease. Now his two sons run the 100 acre farm, one a botanist and the other a fruit technologist by training. One of them took us on a tour.

He told us they continue to experiment with trees and plants from all round the world. If they succeed, they develop it further to suit the land, climate and market. They have developed there many different types of bamboo...

...including this giant type, which can grow 1 1/2 feet in a day at the height of the season.

There is a large plantation of mangos and many have pepper plants climbing up them.

As we walked, Mr Soans pointed out the wide variety of plants they grow, including coconut, banana, cocoa, mulberry, cinnamon, cashews and many others.

Pineapples grow extensively and we were offered pineapple juice such as I've never tasted before - exquisite!

After leaving the farm we journeyed to the 15th C Chandranatha Temple at Moodabidri.

The Temple is described as having a 1,000 pillared hall.

In fact many of the pillars are carved into sub-pillars to make up the count.

Leaving the temple we travelled back to Mangalore and to Minerva for a late lunch and ready to depart for our next port of call at Kochi.

Robert Cole

MUMBAI CITY

After our quick lunch we found our tour minibus and met our guide, Freni. She ably talked us round Mumbai, as the driver negotiated the hectically busy traffic, with which we were becoming familiar. She is seen here leading us round one of our later stops. Mumbai is now India's largest city with a population approaching 18m.

First stop was at the architectural gem of Mumbai, the Central Railway Station (previously the Victoria Terminus). When it was built in 1887 it was by far the largest railway station in the world - a fitting monument to the Raj at the height of its powers. It has on its main gateway a British lion and a recumbent Indian tiger.

Opposite the Station is the Municipal Corporation Building. The British Raj treated India as if it were home and scattered around Classical, Gothic and Georgian style buildings. As one of our lecturers, Sir Roy Strong, remarked, 'it was like Bath in Bombay'. Mumbai was the old Indian name for the City. The Portuguese named it Bom Bahia and the British converted that to Bombay. Now a cosmopolitan city, the Municipal Corporation provides primary and secondary education in at least 10 languages.

As we travelled on Freni told us of the development of Mumbai from seven separate islands, which had been joined together by causeways and the areas between drained. Before that, the British East India Company had set up a base on the small southernmost island, Colaba, in 1668 after it had been acquired by the British crown as part of the dowry when the Portuguese princess, Catherine of Braganza, married King Charles II. The development had occurred very slowly after that until it gathered pace in the 19th C and particularly after the opening of the Suez Canal. Whilst it is no more than 3 miles across, it stretches 14 miles from North to South.

We then travelled North through a prosperous part of Mumbai, along the long, gracefully curving Marine Drive set by the side of the beautiful bay, and on to a traditional Indian dhobi laundry, which is apparently still widely used. As can be seen, it covers a vast area for washing and drying. An ironing service is also provided.

We went then to the Gandhi Museum set in the house originally owned by wealthy supporters of Gandhi and where he stayed in Mumbai over many years - in between periods in prison due to his campaign of peaceful resistance against the British Raj.

The Museum is also used as a university building for the study of sociology. There is an extensive library based around Guandi's many books. There are displays from Guandi's life and a series of intricately, hand made miniature tableaux of important events. Here is shown the demonstration against the imposition of a salt tax.

We ended our tour with a drive back through the busy city, just stopping for a short walk round the hanging gardens - so named only because they are set up high. Then back to Minerva in time for departure and another day at sea before reaching Mangalore.

Robert Cole

MUMBAI TO ELEPHANTA ISLAND

We only had one day in Mumbai and had to be back on board by 6pm. So, we set ourselves a tight schedule of a long morning's visit to Elephanta Island and John had organised for us a private city tour of Mumbai for which we had to be back by 2pm whether or not we had had lunch.

Clodagh opted out of the boat trip to Elephanta and the rest of us set off at 8am first for a short bus ride to the Gateway of India, erected to mark the visit in 1911 of George V, with Queen Mary, to be crowned as Emperor of India.

Next to the gateway is the famous The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, which was the scene of a bloody terrorist attack in 2008 - we were in fact there on the sixth anniversary and were told that security measures had been stepped up for it.

We took a boat from here for the hour long crossing to Elephanta Island and had a good view from the harbour of the Gateway and the Hotel. Our guide, Rajiv, reminded us that the Hotel had been built by a Parsee industrialist, J N Tata, after he had been refused entry to a nearby 'European' hotel, because he was Indian. The Taj has become prosperous, while the other hotel, Watsons, closed decades ago.

Our trip to Elephanta was for visiting the caves, which were some way from where we left the boat and up high. There was a small, train shuttle for the first flat part, but the service was slow and most of us walked.

The second part of the walk was up a long flight of steps, with market stalls on either side selling tourist tat, leading up to the entrance to the caves.

At the entrance, Rajiv told us about the caves, which were carved out of one piece of basalt rock as a temple to the Hindu God, Shiva.

Their much debated date varies from 6th to 8th C according to different specialists.

The main cave is universally famous for its carvings to the glory of Shiva.

The cave and everything in it was carved out of the rock from the top down. The interior is divided up into smaller areas by supports. The whole shape carefully imitates a building with false beams carved in the roof and with the supports combining the shapes of pillars, columns and capitals found in bonded stone architecture.

There are numerous artistic carvings made out of the walls of the cave.

Here one of the 5m high gatekeepers to the shrine of Shiva.

Most of the rock carvings in the cave represent the various aspects of Shiva.

The three headed Shiva is shown here as creator, protector and destroyer.

Here Rajiv points to the marriage of Shiva and Parvati.

The carvings are regarded as one of the most striking examples of rock-art in India and the caves have been designated a World Heritage Site.

On our way back from the caves, down to our ferry, we encountered a couple of the monkeys who inhabit the island.

Then back to Mumbai and Minerva for a speedy lunch ready for our afternoon tour of the City.

Robert Cole