Kochi (Malayalam: കൊച്ചി) is a major port city on the south-west coast of India bordering the Arabian Sea. Called the ‘Queen of the Arabian Sea’, Kochi was an important spice trading centre on the west coast of India from the 14th century onward.
Fort Kochi (Portuguese: Cochim de Baixo ‘Lower Kochi’) also known as Old Kochi or West Kochi, has an old community of Cochin Jews. This clock tower has three kinds of numerals: Roman numerals, Hebrew numerals and Malayalam numerals.
Paradesi Synagogue was built in 1568 for the flourishing Jewish community in Kochi, it is the oldest active synagogue in the Commonwealth of Nations.
Paradesi is a word used in several Indian languages, and the literal meaning of the term is ‘foreigners’, applied to the synagogue because it was built by Sephardic or Portuguese-speaking Jews.
There is an old Jewish granny living not far from Paradesi Synagogue, she has lived in Kochi for 70 years, still recites her Hebrew Bible everyday.
The Jews in Kochi include Malabar Jews and Paradesi Jews. Malabar Jews are the oldest group of Jews in India, with roots that are claimed to date back to the time of King Solomon. Paradesi Jews were Jewish people who immigrated to the Indian subcontinent during the 15th and 16th centuries.
After India gained its independence in 1947 and Israel was established as a nation, most of the Jews in Kochi emigrated to Israel, Australia and other Commonwealth countries.
