India 2024: A Synagogue and a Portuguese Victory Gate

The Paradesi Synagogue, Cochin Jewish Synagogue, or Mattancherry Synagogue are all names for this same synagogue in Kochi, built in 1568. Once the place of worship of a thriving community, it now doesn’t have the local minyan required for regular services but is beautifully maintained and holds services when there are enough visitors to hold them.

This is the clocktower of the synagogue. On the last day of our workshop in India, we sat in a shady spot sketching this.

And then we toured the interior with a guide that really brought the place alive. (If you’re a Salman Rushdie fan, then this synagogue and it’s tiled floors play a part in his book The Moor’s Last Sigh)

This quick brush pen sketch at the end of that morning captures more of those typical Kochi steep-sloped terracotta tiled roofs.

The Viceroy’s Arch in Old Goa commemorates Vasco de Gama’s arrival in India. Built in 1597, (only a few years after that synagogue in Kochi) it was the gateway to the city that once was the capital of the Portuguese colony of Goa. India took back that colony from the Portuguese in 1961, but the language, food, architecture, and culture are very much a part of the state’s identity, even today.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

You can see earlier posts in the series from India here:
• The Study Hall of Dreams and Hopes
• Crawford Market
• Washing Linen, Fishing Marlin
• Small Spaces
• Fishing Boats and Fish Markets
• Little Shops
• Food and Family
• Spices, Fish Thalis and Temple Food
• Temples
• Sketches from South Mumbai

Gateway to India is a workshop based in India that I run with my co-instructor, Zainab Tambawala. The next session is in late January 2025. Workshop details will be announced by March 2024. If you are interested in joining us, write to me at suhita@gmail.com and let me know!