| This long narrow palm-fringed island, easily accessible from the mainland is where the Bolghatty Palace is situated amidst 15 acres of lush green lawns. | |
| Built by the Dutch in 1744, it became the seat of the British Resident later. In 1976, the palace was converted to into a hotel under the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation. The palace has a golf course on its grounds.This island is connected by frequent ferry services with the mainland Ernakulam. Boats to this island start from the High Court Jetty. | |
| Country boats(Machuvas) can also be hired near the Jetty. | |
| The Chinese fishing nets are a fascinating sight to us. These nets, at the entrance of the harbour and along the backwaters with pivots of wood, were introduced by traders from the court of Kublai Khan in 1350AD.They can be seen all along the backwaters of Kerala | |
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Dutch palace, Mattancherry |
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| This Palace was built by the Portuguese and presented to the Raja of Cochin in 1555 A.D. Though built by the Portuguese , it is popularly known as the 'Dutch Palace' as the Dutch renovated it during their short lived reign here. | |
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The palace is well known for its mural paintings which are noted for their high level of excellence. These paintings represent scenes from the epics Ramayana and Mahabharatha. The paintings cover a wide range of themes from the 'Puthra Kameshtiyagam' to Rama's return to Ayodhya after vanquishing king Ravana of Lanka. |
| They cover nearly
300 sq. feet of wall surface. In the central courtyard of the Palace is the temple dedicated to Panhayannur Bhagavathi In the Coronation hall
,there is a display of dresses and palanquins used by the rulers of Cochin. The Palace is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on all days except Fridays and National holidays. |
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| HIll palace museum, tripunithura | |
| It is the largest archeological museum in Kerala. Set on top of a hillock, this prodigious palace-turned-museum displays 13 categories of exhibits, including | |
| paintings, carvings and other royal antiquities donated by the Cochin and Travancore royal families and the Paliam Devaswom. The Heritage museum located on the rear side of the palace buildings, familiarizes with the traditional lifestyles of ancient Kerala. As part of the establishment of a mini zoo, a deer park with spotted deer, sambar and peacocks is run by the Society for the Preservation of Hill Palace Premises. |
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The museum premises has also been converted into a botanical garden with
exotic tropical trees from Central America to Australia.
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| PALLIPURAM FORT | |
| Pallipuram fort was built by the Portuguese in 1503. It is one of the oldest existing | |
| European monument in India. The Dutch captured the fort in 1661 and sold it to the State of Travancore in 1789. This fort is situated in the northern extrimity of the Vypeen island at Pallipuram. The Catholic Church at Pallipuram is an important pilgrim centre for the christians. From Vypeen there are frequent buses to Pallipuram. | |
| Vypeen is connected by ferry with Fort Cochin and Ernakulam. | |
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Parishith thampuran museum |
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| This is situated on the Durbar Hall Ground on the D.H.Road,Ernakulam. Collection | |
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of 19th centuary oil Paintings,old coins, sculpturesin stone and
plaster of Paris and copies of mural painting are exhibited here. An Art Gallery is also functioning at the museum
building |
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| Willington Island | |
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This is a man made island created from the materials drudged while
deepening the Cochin Port. Lord Bristow was the architect of this island.
There are frequent ferry and bus services to this place from Ernakulam. The
Harbour , Airport and Harbour Railway Terminus are in this island. |
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| ernakulam siva temple | |
| This temple is situated at the centre of the town, near the Durbar Hall Grounds. | |
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The presiding diety is Lord Siva and the annual festival in the temple is celebrated for eight days during January - February every year. The festival is rounded up with the Aarattu procession when the image of the diety is taken for a sacred bath in the temple pool . A cultural festival is also held with a variety of programmes of music concerts , Kathakali, etc., as part of celebrations. |
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| THIRUMALA DEVOSWAM TEMPLE , MATTANCHERRY | |
| This is one of the temples of Gowda Sarawatha Brahmins. The presiding diety is | |
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Lord Venkatesha.There are two main festivals in this temple which are celebrated for eight days each during March-April and November-December respectively every year. The festival is rounded up with the Aarattu procession when the Chakra Snanam the sacred bath is conducted in the temple pool. |
| The main specialty of this temple is that it has the second largest brass Bell in Asia. | |
| CHENAMANGALAM | |
| It was the seat of Paliath Achan,the heriditory Prime Minister of the erstwhile state | |
| Cochin from 1632 to 1809. It was one of the chief center s of the Jew in Kerala and there is an Oriental Jewish synagogue in the old Jews colony. In the vicinity of the Jewish Colony, once stuid the famous Vaipinkotta Seminary built in the 16th century by the Portuguese the remains of the seminary are still visible. The old Syrian Catholic Church established in the 1201 is near the euin of the seminary. | |
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Near the synagogue and the church there is a temple and mosque.
The temple is dedicated to Lord Krishna. The Jewish and Muslims cemetries
are located near the temple. The existence of the Synagogue, the Church,
the Mosque, and the Temple in very dose proximity to one another provides ample
proof of the prevalence of communal harmony in this part of Kerala in oldest
days Chenamangalam is an important center for handloom weaving and coir manufacturing. The annual fair called "Mattachanda" (Barter Systems) is held here on the eve of Vishu(in April) Chenamangalam is situated 42Km away from Ernakulam and 5Km away from north Parur. There are buses from Ernakulam to North Parur and Chenamangalam is connected north parur by frequent bus services. |
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| JEWISH SYNAGOGUE | |
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This synagogue built in 1568 A.D., was destroyed by the Portuguese in 1662 and rebuilt by the Dutch two year after Scroll of Old Testament and a number of the Copper Plates inscribed in the Hebrew script script are preserved in the synagogue. The synagogue is open from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. excepted on Saturdays and Jewish holidays |
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KANJIRAMATTAM MOSQUE |
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| It is believed that this Mosque was erected over the mortal remains of Sheikh Parid. | |
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It was here that the Great Muslim Saint Baver is believed to have paraid and attained eternal bliss. The Kudikkuthu Festival which Falls in December-January attracts thousands of devotees the Mosque is situated at Kanjiramattam 30Km Away from Kochi there are Private buses to Kanjiramattam from Ernakulam |
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| KALADY | |
| Kalady is the birth place of Sri Sankaracharya, the Great Indian Philosopher | |
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who lived in the 8th century it is situated on the banks fo river Periyar
there are two Shrines in memory of Sri Sankaracharya One dedicated to him as Dakshinamoorthy and the other to the Goddess Sharadha. The ancient Sree Krishna Temple situated here was the family temple of Adi Sankaracharya. Adi Sankaras shrines in kalady are open to all pilgrim's irrespective of religion or caste. |
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The nearest is Kochin, 48Km's from kalady and thenearest railway station are
Angamali (10 Km) and Aluva(23Km) only limited number of trains stop at Angamaly. Kalady is connected by road with important cities in south india there are frequent buses to kalady from Angamaly and Aluva. |
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| Art Complex - Madhavan Nayar Foundation, Edappally | |
| This museum is the only one of its kind in Kerala. The complex consists of the | |
| Gallery ofPaintings and Sculptures which presents over 200 original paintings by contemporary Indian Artists, some of them internationally acclaimed and works of reputed Indian sculptors. The Centre for Visual Arts is reserved for authentic reproductions of selected world masters from Leonardo da Vinci to those of the present century. | |
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The centre also exhibits certain larger-than-life mural reproductions
of ancient Indian Art |
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