Memoirs of Mattanchery - Part 2

 

Memoirs OF MATTANCHERRY   
 Melting Pot of Multiculturalism,Vibrant Past and Modern Existence - Part 2 

Reference Map (Not to Scale)

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Transport System

The narration of Mattancherry will not be complete, if some facts of mode of transport that were available in the fifties and also the entertainment of films by theaters that were functioning at that time. In those days, buses were very few and  only  a small number of rich families  owned cars. The common vehicle available were rickshaws pulled by Rickshawallas. The minimum charge for travelling for a 2 kms were 2 annas and maximum for travelling was Re.1

Most of the buses plying from Mattancherry were to Edakochi.the southern point of the islet of Mattancherry. The opposite side across the back water from the southern tip is Aroor a village in Alapuzha district which at that time was a part of erstwhile Travancore state. The existing bridge connecting Mattancherry to Aroor was constructed subsequently.There was a chungam (Tax Collection Centre) where one has to pay chakram the prevailing monetary instrument for bringing goods and also to cross over from  one side  to other. 

The only mode of transport was rowing boat called "changadam" or some steam boats. The direct bus service to Ernakulam were very few, and it took more than 2 hours to reach Broad Way, the main market at Ernakulam. Hundreds of travelling public  going to Willingdon Island and Ernakulam for working and business purposes were depending on steam boat services managed by Mr Koder, an important personality of Jewish community. The boat service was subsequently nationalised and is being operated since then by Kerala Water Transport Corporation. It was very curious to know the names of the boats christened as "Komalakumari", "Kanyakumari", "Ganga", "Yamuna", "Jalaja Kumari" and so on

There was a double decker boat called "Himalaya". During those days, students studying in colleges and other educational institutions at Ernakulam were served free passes with unlimited to and fro journeys between Mattancherry and Ernakulam. There were also a few boat services manaiged by private owners to travel to small pockets of islands such as Varapuzha, Edavanakkadu, Vypeen and Cherai. I still remember alighting from the steam boat to a small boat (vanchi) at the middle of the backwater to reach Edavanakkad.

Hundreds of labourers and other people working at Cochin Port Trust and other commercial institutions in Willingdon Island were depending on manually operated dinghy boats called “machua” to travel from Mattancherry to Willingdon Island. Some time, during peak hours of morning and evening these small boats carry 25 to 30 people and 5 to 10 bicycles of the passengers, the edge of the boat dangerously reaching to the level of water.  It is  a grace of luck or miracle we name it, no major accident has been reported involving these small boats carrying hundreds of public daily for 24 hrs.

Eventually one cannot see such boats today at Mattancherry boat jetty. For international trade, some of the major shipping companies were Clan lines, American President lines, Orient Shipping Co., Hellenic shipping Co. and the following Indian registered companies which were Shipping Corporation of India, Great Eastern Shipping Co and the South India Shipping Co. were also present for the trade. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boat Jetty, Mattancherry,Image Courtesia : wikimapia,internet

Electric Supply

If my memory is correct, electricity supply was introduced in Mattancherry somewhere between 1949-50. Till that time, the street lights were kerosene burned lights. A worker of Mattancherry municipality will walk along with a ladder, and climb each street light to pour kerosene and light the lamp. Till the electric supply was taken over by the KSEB a state government institution, the distribution was done by a private company called M/s Cochin Electric Co., owned by Mr. S Koder, a prominent jewish business man. He had another company also viz. S.Koder & Co. A note worthy aspect of the gentleman’s role in the business circle was he had distinction of running the earlier boat service from Mattancherry to Ernakulam and Willindon Island,before the service was taken over by the state government. During his management of the electricity supply, the power disruptions were only on Sundays between 10.00 am to 12.00 pm for maintenance work, and the public never had experience of power shut down that we suffer presently every now and then. Similarly, there were not a single day where the boat sevice was stopped or disruptions that we experience now a days .

Roads

In those days there were no tarred roads. Every year, during summer a mixture of laterite red soil and powdered sand were spread over the entire stretch of the road and pressed and smoothed by hauling a road roller by workmen. Everyday  morning and evening the entire stretch of the  road were watered using a bullock cart  laden  with drums of water.  The number of buses plying in those days were very few.  The  buses did not have any metal cover on it’s side, where as it was covered half the height with wooden panels, and one could see the inside of the bus . The seats were only wooden and no cushion. 

Cinema Theatres

Three cinema theaters which are Star theater, Patel Talkies, Select Talkies subsequently changed to Royal theaters were the main cinema houses exhibiting the films in English, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam. Most of the Hindi films used to be exhibited at the Star theater.  The Hindi films used to be released on the same day when it  were  released at Mumbai. I still remember travelling in a Tonga (horse driven cart) to see the Tamil film Samsaram at Patel Talkies.

 None of the above theaters are now existing. After demolishing, the structures they have been converted to mall, and flats. In the sixties another theater came at Fort Cochin. Its present name is Kokers. It was here, the first CinemaScope (large screen) with the technologically advance sound system introduced. I still remember seeing some of the famous English films like “20000 thousand feet under the sea”, “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang “and "Sound of Music". All those days are forlorn, and lost to oblivion leaving behind a handful of nostalgia.

Hotels

To cater to the local population to satisfy their taste buds two prominent restaurants comes to the mind.For vegetarians, "SREE KRISHNA CAFÉ" a restaurant started by a good Samaritan namely late Govinda Rao a visionary in the hotel business who had migrated from Udupi of Dakshina Kannada famous for producing a number of veterans in the hotel business called Udupi hotels throughout the world. If my memory is correct, Sree Krishna Café would have been in existence for more than 100 years. 

Presently,the hotel is managed by 3^rd generation members of the Rao family. The hot Idly,Masala Dosa,Oothappam, Ghee roast and all other savoury dishes served in the hotel tempt any person with a prodigious appetites to eat voraciously. I feel strongly that it was Mr.Rao who introduced the Dakshina Kannada taste with the Udupi tag in this part of the state.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SriKrishna cafe,  Mattancherry, Image Courtesy : Tripadvisor

For non vegetarians, Rahamathulla café,locally known as Kaika restaurant gave tasty chicken and mutton biriyani, and all other tasty non-veg foods, that tempted any person tasted the foods to revisit umpteen times. The hot masala tea served at the restaurant will remain in the taste buds for many days,if anybody had the occasion to visit the restaurant once, tempting to visit again and again simply to taste the tea. I do not know whether these two restaurants are maintaining the standard and the quality that had in those times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rahamatullah Cafe,

Image Courtesy : www.culturalmapping.in,Tripadvisor

Bombay Tailors

Those who wanted to have their dresses stitched in the Bollywood star styles, the name of Bombay Tailors comes to fore. I do not remember the owners name, but he was the person well received accolades for his acumen in the tailoring business, and this enabled him to have a good number of customers including celebrities of the time.

Parade Ground in Fort Kochi

Parade ground at Fort Kochi, is the only place where various sportive activities were conducted. I remember it as a well maintained ground surrounded by trees on all the sides, and the grass well pruned to give a look of lush green atmosphere. During the British rule, it was the head quarter of the British residency of Cochin State. Before independence, Fort Kochi was known as British Kochi, and parade ground was the venue for conducting parade by the colonial forces during special occasions.  

Royal Visits

After shifting of the capital of Cochin State from Trichur to Tripunithura, the coronation of the new ruler were held at Tripunithura. After the coronation, the new ruler visits Mattancherry.A grand reception were accorded to the new ruler with all pomposity and gaiety in the most befitting manner demanded  by the occasion. There is Nalukettu building behind the Palliyarakkavu temple called "Ariyittu Vazhcha Kottaram" where the coronoation happens. The road from anavathil to this premise were spread with finely powdered white sand .The entire road leading to the royal building were ostentatiously decorated  with huge arches at vantage points. The new ruler was carried on a well decorated palanquin from Anavathil to the coronation building. 

The retinue will consists of important family members of the king, courtiers of the royal court, high officials of the state, specially invited dignitaries, prominent personalities representing the various communities, religious leaders, priests chanting religious verses to accompany the entourage. In front of the entourage, trumpeters and other artists  played  various instruments. Behind the palanquin, a contingent of royal personal guards on horses , large contingent of state force carrying swords, shields, spears and other weapons, and another contingent of state force with guns accompanied. On arrival at the building a royal salute was given, and the king was  guided  and made  to sit on  a decorated throne, rice is poured over the head of the designated king and the royal crown is  placed on his head. This ceremony is called "Ariyittu Vazhcha".

After this,the important personalities representing various communities, and the specially invited dignitaries  addressed the king  showering  praises and pray for  his  long life. This was  followed by giving precious gifts, mementos etc. The occasion   was also used to vent the grievances of  various communities for redress. When all those royal functions were over, the king along with his royal entourage visited  various temples. The citizens of the Cochin state lined up the entire route from Tripunithura to Mattancherry to have a look of the new ruler. 

At Mattancherry,the citizens lined up on either side of the road from Anavathil to Palliyarakkavu junction to have a look at the new ruler and also to witness the grand gala of royal ceremonies and other functions associated with the coronation ceremony. These events are being narrated by me from the memories of the story narrated by my parents and the old timers of the family who  were fortunate  to witness  these events in their life time. The palanquin ,swords, furniture, chandeliers, and vessels of all sizes used by the royal family are exhibited on the first floor of Dutch palace. Some mural painting are also there.The last coronation ceremony was conducted to install H H Rama Varma popularly known as the Pareekshit Thampuran. He was a great Sanskrit scholar, a connoisseur of vedic and sanskrit literature and promoted kathakali and other temple arts, and arranged Sanskrit literary festival inviting prominent Sanskrit scholars from all over India

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anavathil,Mattancherry , source : internet

Palliyarakavu Temple,Mattancherry 

 

Ariyittu Vazhcha Kottaram,Mattancherry 
 

 Health Care

For health care in those days only three hospitals under the control of state government were available, They are govt, hospital at Fort Kochi, women and children hospital near Mattancherry boat jetty, and govt.hospital called Maharaja’s hospital at Karuvelipadi. Although some small private hospitals are available now, the public have to depend on major hospitals at Ernakulam for major treatment.

In the case of health care, two prominent institutions, namely M/s Navarathna Pharmacy, a pharmaceutical manufacturing Co. and M/s Lobo bros. a wholesale and retail distributor of English medicines manufactured by leading international and Indian companies comes to memory. M/s Navarathana Pharmacy was managed by late Mr.S.S Rao and his son late. Dr. S.B. Rao. Apart from an Industrialist, Dr Rao was also  a fine exponent of  Veena. . M/s Lobo Bros.were owned by a Konkani speaking family migrated from Goa. I firmly believe both the institutions are closed down subsequently.  

Gymnasium

Cochin gymnasium working behind the town hall is one of the oldest gymnasiums of Kerala. Many persons of the town use this for body exercises and other events such as body building and weight lifting etc. In those days in connection with the annual day celebrations, competition on weight lifting and body building used to be conducted. No person from Mattancherry could forget the name of Mr. Sandow Gopalan, a legend in the body building at that time in the entire south India. I feel even now competitions are conducted in memory of this legend.

Canal

There was a huge canal about 4 metres width running from Rameswaram canal at Karuvelipadi through the heart of the town touching pandikudi,cheralai,kalvetty and finally joining the backwater near the canal at bazar. Old timers used to say that many valloms ( medium boats) used to ply through this canal for bringing goods to Mattancherry from the hinterlands of surrounding towns such as Alleppy, Kottayam,etc. Now the canal has been reduced to a few feet width to carry drain water.

 

 

  

Canal in Mattancherry, Source : Internet 

Koonan Kurushu Palli

There is small church in the heart of Mattancherry bazar called Koonan Kurushu Palli. On Fridays, many locals assemble here for morning and evening prayers. In my school days after my school time I used take food to my grand father who was working in a Gujarathi business concern. While travelling through the bazaar, I have seen believers standing in queue and assemble in large numbers to participate in the evening prayer . Some years back, I have read an article in Malayala Manorama daily  regarding various factions of Christian community assembled in a place to sort out the differences followed by different sections of the community and adopt a uniform code for the administration of the church affairs and the religious procedures to be followed. This agreement is called Koonan Kurushu Sathyam. I do not know whether that event had any connection with this small church. Let knowledgeable persons from the community clarify this statement.

My knowledge of the arrival and the spread of Christianity in Kerala is very limited . I have read some articles that during the life of Christ itself one of his apostles St.Antony landed in a place called Thalikkulam about a few kilo meters from Kodungallur on the route of Kodungallur Ponnani road. It was from here he commenced preaching  Christianity. There is a famous church at Malayattor near Kaladi, birth place of Adi Sankara. The church is dedicated to St.Antony. Subsequently,he attained martyrdom at St.Thomas Mount at Chennai. 

Koonan Kurishu Church(Kuriachante Nada),                          Image courtesy : culturalmapping.in

Moulana Azad Library

 For those avid readers, who wanted to enhance the propriety of their knowledge and passion for reading Moulana Azad Library at Panayapilly was and even now fulfilling their aspirations. This is one of the perhaps only  library in this town serving the public for the past 80 years and more. Subsequently, some 40 years back a library was opened by the Corporation of Cochin at Chullickal junction. I doubt much whether the library is functioning now.

Kumar Taxis

Kumar Taxis, one of the earliest cab aggregators in Kerala is still functioning .The taxi cab service had the rarest honor of letting out his top opened car for carrying Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru the first prime minister of India, and Shri Babu Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India during their first to Kerala after resuming the respective positions 

 Dr.K J Yesudas

The public from Mattancherry cannot  miss the name of the son of soil who has made a indelible mark in the cultural history of India. He is none other than Dr. K.J.Yesudas who has reached the pinnacle of musical world by  hard work and perseverance. With a soothing,sweet, melodious,mystifying and magical voice he has enamoured lakhs of legion of fans throughout the globe elevating the finer spirits of listeners to highest point of enchantment and ecstasy. Though he belongs to Fort Kochi, his works were almost in around Mattacherry before his entry to filmy world. He is one of the finest artists who has contributed to the filmy music of all the prevailing languages of India and some international languages such as Arabi and English. Any encomium written by me will no where equal to the great stature  this cultural ambassador of India holds in the  music world. . 

All the nostalgia has been dug out from the memory line, which I cherish and made me to share with the old timers as well as the new generations.

 Future prospects of development

Kerala is supposed to be one of the most densely populated states, in terms of number of people living per sq.kms, Mattancherry has also contributed its share for this state of affairs. As stated earlier, it is an islet surrounded by sea on the western side and vembanad back water on the eastern side, and the land available for development is very limited. Added to this state of affair is the total apathy shown by the state and district administration to take positive action for the development of this town.Only by a long struggle the past glory it had could be regained, for which a credible leadership is require.

Therefore, the juggernaut of development what we see in other major cities has not affected this tiny town, though it’s fame in the history of the country as ancient commercial centre, and tourist destination spot is undisputed. The Mattancherry Bazaar once brimming and bustling with high pitch commercial activities is a reminiscent of the past

Some 30 to 40 years back, the entire stretch of the road was busy with hundreds of transport vehicles loading and unloading goods of  to the huge  go-downs of the trading companies is not seen anymore now.

One reason for this state of affairs is Ernakulam becoming the nerve centre of commercial activities with its proximity to industrial clusters at Kalamasserry and Aluva, well-knit road and rails connectivity to other part of the state, and other important cities of the country, proximity to International airport through well-developed surface transport system, introduction of metro rail from Always to Tripunithura . The Cochin Harbour Terminus, one of the oldest railway stations in Kerala seems to have been almost abandoned by the railway authorities without any chance of rejuvenation.

The only bright side that gives some hope is the heritage tourism, with the Dutch palace, the synagogue, the heritage buildings at Fort Kochi, with its numerous paying guest houses that serves home stays to tourists. The identity and character of a city is defined by its architecture heritage, culture and the unity of its diverse population, their culture interwoven on a large society.

True to this spirit, we hope this unity in diversity will continue to exist in its full momentum, since it is imperative for all the citizens irrespective of the difference in culture,religion,cast , creed language spoken, so as to retain the glory of Mattancherry being a centre of high secular credentials ,imbued with memories and meaning .It helps people to build a strong citadel of connectivity and foster a sense of belonging.    

A brief narration on Kerala history   

Before concluding, I wish to give a small narration of Kerala History, since the history of Kochi cannot be separated from the history of early Kerala. All aspects of the history are interwoven with one another. During the Sangam period, Kerala was ruled by Chera Kings. It was a part of the Cheran empire. Thiruvanchikulam, near Kodungallur was an important city of the kingdom. It was also a capital city .of the kingdom. There is a famous temple dedicated to Lord Siva. Even today, the daily rituals in the temple is Tamil style. The chief priest is called Nambi. This is the only temple in Kerala, where a separate room is dedicated to the deity called Maniara.

After the athazha pooja, the deity of Siva and Parvathy are taken to this room and special pooja are conducted. Some part of the temple was destroyed during the invasion of Kerala by Tipu Sultan. History says, Chera king Bhaskara Varman II embraced Islam, and migrated to Mecca during the prophet’s life. He also took many palace women and other court members to Mecca. Before leaving he entrusted the kingdom to three chieftains, and the descendants of these chieftains established three kingdoms, the Samoothiri of Malabar, the Cochin State and the Travancore state. 

Presently, the capital of Cochin State is at Tripunithura. There is a famous Muslim Shrine called Malik Dinar Mosque near Kodungalur  which is now called Cheraman Juma Masjid and historians say that it was the oldest mosque in Indian subcontinent  which is still in use.It was built in AD 629 . The current mosque building is a rebuilt one when the old building was destroyed by portugese.

History narrates that the first Chera dynasty was established  by a king called Cheran Chenguttavan. Chenguttavan meaning the ruler who adored  chengol meaning the royal staff.  Further, the Tamil classical literarure of  Sangam period mentions two prominent personalities  namely Kulasekhara Azhwar and Cheraman Peruman Nayanar among the  Azhwars and Nayanmars who had enriched the Tamil Bhakthi movement  with their prestigious works which even today  hold an important place in the Tamil Literature. Both the above persons  hailed from Kerala and both of them were not only great and reputed rulers but were also devout saints in their own ways. Kulasekhara  Azhwar  was a great devout of  Vishnu and had written many kavyas praising the lord Vishnu. Cheraman Peruman Nayanar was great devotee of  Lord Siva  .

Thiruvanchikulam Temple,Kodungallur, source:keratourism

Cheraman Juma Masjid, old building , source :wikipedia

Cheraman Juma Masjid, renovated building , source :kerala tourism

I feel I have tried my best to give a factual narration told by many old timers, and some I have learned from seeing directly. If there are any factual errors, please pardon me since as I have told in an earlier para that history is built on the remnants of what is left over by one generation to another generation. I am dedicating this narration to all Kochinites those who have gone to history and those who live now.

 P. Venkiteswaran (Balaji), Mattancherry