It will be moved to its appropriate chronological position shortly.
A Mercantile City by the Sea
28-Feb-2024
Kochi to Kozhikode
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| India |
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| Kerala |
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| Kerala |
Kochi’s metropolitan area has 2.1 million inhabitants,so leaving it takes some time, Sasi navigating through apparently endless suburbia…
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| Kochi's endless suburbs |
… until we found a larger road - most roads have one lane each way, but not all! Dual carriageways present other problems. Flocks of
motorbikes swoop around like starlings at dusk, and trucks, always in the outer
lane, force overtaking cars to carve a path through the bike's flighty world.
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| A three lane road takes us out of Kochi |
Beyond the city, Sasi stopped for coffee. He left us to it, and after ordering we were each brought a small shiny metal cup of
coffee, sitting in a shiny metal bowl. As we discussed how to proceed, the
manager strolled over, poured my coffee from the cup into the bowl, then from a
great height, poured it back, twice. Keralan coffee is best aerated.
The bill was tiny. As ever, where tourists are rare, we were welcomed as guests and treated in a friendly and fair manner. In tourist
hotspots we are faceless cyphers in an over-monied and often rude and overbearing
crowd, just ripe for the fleecing.
Mandi Lunch
It was after two before we paused for lunch. Sasi was clearly looking for a particular restaurant as he drove up the outside lane inspecting
the buildings on the opposite side. I think
he failed but, finding a gap in the central reservation he, U-turned and drove 200
metres back to a restaurant he hoped would do. It seemed to be called Mandi.
Who, I thought, is Mandy?
The lunchtime service had been busy and there were few available tables. Drivers customarily see their clients settled, then disappear
but like many mid-range restaurants, Mandi had AC and non-AC seating, and the
empty tables were in the non-air-conditioned area. Sasi hovered, leaving us in non-AC
would mean he had, in his own eyes, failed us, though we would have happily eaten
beneath one of the ceiling fans. Just as this seemed inevitable the AC area
cleared out and he quickly shepherded us to a newly vacant table.
A waiter arrived and asked, in English, what we would like. ‘A menu’ seemed a reasonable request. He
pointed his phone at the QR code on the table and showed me an English menu. It
read – ‘Chicken Mandi, Mutton Mandi, Paneer Mandi…..’ Light dawned slowly. We were in a ‘mandi
restaurant’ and ‘mandi’ was what they did. We had no idea what that was, but ordered
two mutton mandi and waited to find out.
The Mandy arrived quickly, looking a lot like meals we had eaten in Oman which Yousef called ‘biriyani’ though maybe for our benefit
(see Lunch in Sur in Sur and Turtles). Biryani-style rice was mixed with
vegetables and topped with slabs of mutton apparently carved with an axe. No
cutlery was on offer, so we washed our hands and got stuck in. It lacked the
sophistication of its Omani sibling, but the fresh, well-spiced ingredients
made a hearty meal. We would happily order it again.
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| Lynne and mutton mandi |
Kerala, particularly Kozhikode, has had trading links with southern Arabia for millennia – it is only a trade wind away.
More recently the area has supplied migrant workers to Oman and the Gulf
states. Mandi is originally a Yemeni dish and returning migrants opened the
first mandi restaurants in the early 2000s. After a slow growth it took off in
2018 and mandi restaurants are now all over the Kozhikode area.
Kozhikode
Harivihar
We reached the city around 5 o’clock. It has been officially called Kozhikode since independence in 1947 but under British rule it was Calicut,
a Portuguese transliteration of the name used by Arab traders. The airport is still
officially ‘Calicut International’ and the major university, Kerala’s largest, is
the ‘University of Calicut.’ Maybe the locals say ‘Kozhikode’ to each other, but to us it was always Calicut. I will,
however, stick with Kozhikode for this post.
With over 600,000 people the city is the heart of a metropolitan region of 3 million, but much of it is surprisingly green. Sasi found his way
to an area northwest of the centre, where narrow lanes run between high walls protecting
the privacy of large residences. A former royal manor-house built in 1850 by
the Kadathanad royal family, once rulers of northern Kerala, now houses Harivihar,
a ‘heritage homestay’ offering Ayurvedic and yoga treatments we would have no
time for, and vegetarian meals.
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| Harivihar Wellness and Heritage Homestay |
After checking in we took a pre-dinner stroll in the gardens, discovering the area around the pond was very popular with mosquitoes.
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| It would be an error to stand by this arch around dawn or dusk |
At the appropriate time we presented ourselves for dinner and found we were the only guests. We had been warned that Harivihar served
only vegetarian food, but in a country with a vegetarian majority, that is not
unusual. This, however, was different. It was vegan rather than just vegetarian,
much of the food was uncooked (though obviously not the rice), and spices and
sauces were used with restraint. Everything was beautifully presented (pity we destroyed
it before I took a photograph!) and we found the freshness and the occasional unusual
flavour made an excellent and satisfying dinner.
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| It was a beautifully presented vegetarian meal when it arrived |
29-Feb-2023
Breakfast at Harivihar
Breakfast was, of course, also vegan so no omelettes, but other South Indian breakfast treats were available, we had idlis with
coconut chutney…
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| Idli with coconut chutney and sambar |
… dosa...
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| Dosa, Harihvar |
….and as much fresh fruit as we could eat. Some varieties of orange, as we discovered in Vietnam in
2012 (see Hue (1)) are green even when ripe, but this was the first time I had eaten one.
Colour is skin deep, inside it is just an orange.
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| A green orange, Harihivar |
Tali Shiva Temple and Student Police Cadets
Pleased with our vegan breakfast, we met up with Sasi and a local guide I shall call 'Mr Guide', partly because I have forgotten his name, and partly as a tribute to his sense of self-importance. Together we headed for central Kozhikode. Traffic never flows very freely
here, but today, in and amongst the cars, there were dozens, possibly hundreds
of young people in uniform. They seemed to be moving between a central building
and a field where an event might be taking place later,
Taking great care not to drive over any of the youngsters, Sasi deposited us at the Tali Shiva Temple.
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| Tali Shiva Temple (the man leaving and the man on the left reclaiming his shoes are wearing mundu) |
It does not look particularly old from this angle, but it was much improved by the local rulers in the 14th century and it was not new
then. It was badly damaged during Tipu Sultan’s invasion in the 18th century (For
more on Tipu Sultan, see the 2016 post Mysore, Somnathpur and Srirangapatnam) and underwent major restoration in 1964. Dedicated
to Lord Shiva, its most treasured possession is a Swayambhu Lingam
(self-manifested lingam) which ‘some believe’ (to quote the temple website) was
installed by the legendary sage Parasurama. Parasurama, the 7th avatar of Lord
Vishnu, is mentioned in the Ramayana, making him as historical as Achilles
(though better heeled.)
The dress code for men is dhoti or mundu without shirts. I removed my shirt to enter Suchindram Temple in Tamil Nadu in 2016, but mercifully stayed covered here as temples
in Kerala are open to Hindus only. A mundu, the traditional male attire in Southern
India, is a piece of cloth wrapped around the waist and often folded to knee
length for convenience.
A side view of the temple entrance shows the typical Kerala design of long eves shading slatted windows.
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| Traditional Kerala eves and slatted windows, Tali Shiva Temple |
Next to (almost) every temple is a large artificial pool, known as a tank. Across the tank is a gopura, these brightly painted towers are common in
Tamil Nadi but almost unknown in Kerala.
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| Tali Shiva Tank and a small gopura |
Along the bank were a series of carved representations of important events in Hinduism, or perhaps local history. Unfortunately, I am too ignorant of both to attempt any interpretation.
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| Man on palanquin, beside the tank Kozhikode |
There was also a magnificent tree I identified as a rain tree. Mr Guide corrected me, it is a peepul or bodhi tree, the tree under which the Budha was meditating when he achieved enlightenment.
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| Peepul or Bhodi tree, Kozhikode |
Girls in uniform were fluttering around here, too. They were members of the SPC – Student Police Cadets – an initiative aimed at 13–16-year-olds
with the usual worthy aims of such organisations – promoting civic responsibility,
social awareness and leadership skills among them.
Our pale faces stood out in the crowds around the tank and they soon noticed us, small groups pointing and daring each other. Eventually the
bravest broke ranks, walked up to Lynne, held her nerve and asked if she could
have a photograph with us. Being asked for a photograph is common where
foreigners are rare and of course we always say yes. Mr Guide was appalled, ‘allow
one,’ he warned us ‘and they will all come. I will shoo them away.’ No,
you won’t Mr Guide. We have been photographed by many people in many places,
including large school groups in the citadel of Kabaw in Libya and a rock
temple in southern China. We do not have a tight schedule, or any schedue at all, and ten or fifteen minutes spent
to promoting international goodwill is time well spent. There were a dozen or more groups in
the end, all very polite and smiley - and we got a photograph, too.
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| Student Police Cadets, Kozhikod |
Tasara Arts Festival
Mr Guide suggested we might like to visit the Tasara arts festival, taking place nearby. It is an international event, though the
entrance was distinctly low-key.
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| There are no big signs, no arrows pointing the way, just this on the gate |
The festival was mostly outdoors, around a large house, its balconies and patios used for display purposes.
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| Paintings on the Balconies and patios, Tasara Arts Festival |
Individuals were also showing their own work, some of which I liked,…
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| Hanna from Sweden has painted what might be a brain Tasara Arts festival |
…. and some I failed to understand.
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| Valerie from France has tied some twigs together and....? Tasara Arts Festival |
Other, perhaps more established, had their own areas and exhibitions.
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| More traditional painting from MG Narayan, Tasara Arts Festival |
We spoke to an artist whose work we admired,....
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| An artist whose work we admired, Tasara Arts Festival |
... and I owe him an apology. I have no photogrpah of his work, and I have lost the piece of paper with his name on it. If he ever finds his way to this page (a long shot) he will, at least, have a nice photograph to show his mum.
He happened to be local, but the festival attracts artists from across India, the rest of Asia and a fair sprinkling of Europeans.
The only other British voices we heard in Kozhikode were inside the house
discussing textiles.
There were crafts as well as arts, spinning….
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| Spinning, Tasara Arts Festival |
….weaving…
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| Weaving, Tasara Arts Festival |
… and swinging – perhaps less a craft than a silly person playing?
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| Swinging, Tasara Arts Festival |
Mopilla Mosques
The Mopilla are descendants of Arabian traders who settled on the northern part of the Kerala coast six or
seven hundred years ago. Over the centuries they have largely integrated into
Kerala’s eight million strong Muslim community, but remain notable for their
mosques.
The Miskhal Mosque, one of the oldest and largest, was built in the 14th century by Nakhuda Miskhal, a
Yemeni shipowner and merchant who had settled in Kozhikode.
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| Miskhal Mosque Kozhikode |
It once had five stories, but now has four, after a violent confrontation with the Portuguese in 1510. Like
all Mopilla Mosques it is constructed of wood above the ground floor, and has
the pronounced eves and slatted windows typical of Kerala. Domes and minarets
are conspicuous by their absence.
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| Miskhal Mosque, end view |
Islam was born in Arabia and the architecture of most mosques worldwide reflects that origin. Mopilla
mosques do not. We first saw Mopilla mosques here in 2010 (pre-blog). In the
2020 post Praying
Facing West, part of my Variety of Mosques thread, they can be seen in the context of other Asian mosques.
Wholesale Coconuts
Although this was our
second visit, Kozhikode sees few tourists and has few of the usual tourist attractions
– but that does not mean it lacks interesting things to see.
Kerala is estimated to have 180-200 million coconut trees, averaging around 5,000 per km². Coconuts
are essential to Keralan life, and we visited a coconut wholesaler, whose
business spread into the street in a most Indian fashion.
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| Grading coconuts in the street, Kozhikode |
These men are coconut graders. They take two coconuts from the pile, tap them together and then lob
them into the appropriate baskets depending on size and sonority of tap.
Unhusked ‘tender coconuts’ harvested at 7-9 months are for drinking, these are mature coconuts harvested at 11 or 12 month and have had the husk and copra removed. The biggest with large kernels and high water content are premium grade. Slightly small and with lower water content are used
for domestic consumption and oil production – coconut oil is essential to the
cuisine of Kerala (see Cooking the Kerala Way). The smallest are often given to
the gods. Offerings are an integral part of puja, the Hindu worship
ritual, with flowers, incense and a coconut being a typical offering.
Inside are enough coconuts to keep the graders busy....
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| Plenty more coconuts inside |
...and gangs of men packing sorted coconuts for onward transport. Inside the atmosphere is
hot and dusty, some workers covering their faces with scarves. In an ideal
world they would all have protective masks, but Indian health and safety awareness is in its infancy.
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| Packing the coconuts |
Lighthouse and Marine Bungalow
Before heading for lunch, a short detour took us past two of Kozhikode’s ‘must sees,’ the lighthouse….
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| Kohzikode Lighthouse |
….and, next door, the Port Marine Bungalow. Why?
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| Port Marine Bungalow, Kozhikode |
Lunch
Mr Guide took us to a restaurant that was good enough to be regularly full and they had set out chairs in the street for those waiting. The young man next to me asked how old I was. Mr Guide leapt down his throat, telling him, rather sharply, it was very rude in our culture to ask a person’s age. But my chair was situated in the middle of his culture, so I told him I was 74 and asked how old he was. ‘26’ he replied, a little surprised. I told him I had been 26 once, which, as intended, he found more amusing than informative. The conversation might have progressed but a man arrived to tell us a table was available. Predictably, we ate a curry of some sort, which must have been pleasant enough, but failed to stick in my memory.
Calicut Cathedral
After a morning with the Hindus and lunch with the Muslims (Muslims run a disproportionately large
number of restaurants) we next visited the Catholic Cathedral. Kerala’s religious
make-up differs from the Indian norm where Hindus are 80% of the population,
Muslims 14% and Christians head a long list of ‘others’ at 2.3%. Kerala is 55%
Hindu, 25% Muslim and 20% Christian.
The Cathedral is a handsome building…
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| Catholic Cathedral, Kozhikode |
…officially known, according to the plaque outside, as the Matri Dei Cathedral, Calicut, which
mixes Latin and English and ends with the old name for Kozhikode, originally
used by the Portuguese.
Vasco da Gama’s 1497
expedition was the first to round the Cape of Good Hope and he landed at
Kozhikode in May 1498 giving Portuguese traders unimpeded access to the spices and
other riches of the Malabar coast for a couple of centuries. The Plaque records
the first Cathedral being built by the Zamorin (King) of Calicut under the ‘supervision’
of two Jesuit priests. The 1724 extension were also the work of the Zamorin – supervised
by a Portuguese Priest. There were no Zamorins by the time of the 2008 renovation,
after which the cathedral was rededicated by the Bishop of Calicut.
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| Inside the cathedral, Kohzikode |
Across the courtyard
outside, is a catholic secondary school where Mr Guide had once been a pupil. I
think it gave him part-ownership of the cathedral.
Archaeology Museum
It had been a long day, we were still jet-lagged, and although we usually adjust quickly to Indian temperatures,
we were struggling with the 33° heat and high humidity – and Mr Guide was
continuing to be opinionated and wrong. Although the museum was probably
interesting, I was not interested, I wanted to sit down and have a cool drink.
Mr Guide failed to realise he was losing his audience and insisted on describing
every single exhibit. We listened politely, but the visit felt interminable.
Dinner at Harivihar
Eventually we escaped, Sasi
drove is back to Harivihar and we said goodbye to Mr Guide. Later, dinner erased
any lingering doubt, that a vegan meal can taste good and be completely satisfying.
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| Vegan dinner, Harivihar. I am not quite sure what it was, but it was good. |
Again, I did not take a picture until too late, but do not really know what they did or what we ate, except that we liked it.
Part 1: Cooking the Kerala Way
Part 2: Kochi: Not Really a Free Day
Part 3: Kozhikode (Formerly Calicut)
and much more to come
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