Cochin Tourism

Cochin is the natural harbor created by the famed underwater Malabar mud-banks whose quality ensures that the rougher the seas are outside calmer the waters are within the Harbor. Cochin offers all the attractions of Kerala in a concentrated package. Besides Hindu temples, the spirit of the Jews Synagogues, the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English Churches lingers in the narrow streets and the architecture of the house as it does in the fine old Church of St. Francis, where Vasco da Gama, who placed the city on the world map, was buried in 1524. Willington Island is sandwiched between two channels of water that separate it from the busy city of Ernakulam on the east and Cochin on the west. The principal festival is Onam, around the month of August-September. On the final day there are boat races that pitch one village against the other. The men race their beautifully decorated “snake boats” swaying to the rhythmic cries of the cox and urged on by spectators lining the banks. Watch the Chinese Fishing Nets. Evening can be spent watching Kathakali dance performance.

It is the oldest church built by European in India. On his 3rd visit to Kerala, Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese trader who reached India from Europe by sea, fell ill and died in Kochi. He was buried in the St. Francis Church. Later his remains were taken back to Portugal. In spite of that the exact place where he was buried has been marked out inside the church.