Paradesi Synagogue - Jewish Synagogue (or) Mattancherry Synagogue

Paradesi Synagogue in Kochi, also known as Jewish Synagogue (or) Mattancherry Synagogue is famous for being the oldest existing synagogue amid commonwealth countries. The Malabar Jews did a prosperous trade with Cochin rulers and they controlled a major portion of worldwide spice trade. Constructed in 1568, it is one of seven synagogues of the Malabar Yehuda people (Cochin Jewish community) in the Kingdom of Cochin. Paradesi is a word used in several Indian languages, and the literal meaning of the term in Malayalam language is “foreigners”.

It was named in that meaning because it was historically used by ‘White Jews’, a mixture of Jews from Cranganore, the Middle East, and European exiles.The complex has four buildings. It was built adjacent to the Mattancherry Palace temple and shares a common wall. The floor has hand painted porcelain tiles from Canton, each in a different theme, depicting a love affair between a mandarin's daughter and a commoner. According to Nasrani, Hindu and Islamic traditions of Kerala, the devotees asked to enter barefoot in the Paradesi Synagogue. An exclusive gallery for females supported by gilt columns is seen above the main entrance.

An elaborately carved ark that houses four scrolls of the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament) encased in silver and gold on which has gold crowns presented by the maharajas of Travancore and Cochin. The most interesting objects are the two copper plates dating back to the 4th century with details of privileges granted to the Jewish community during the reign of Bhaskara Ravi Varma in the 10th century. The 4 dials of the 45 feet clock tower have numerals in Hebrew, Latin, Malayalam and Arabic.