Places to visit in Kochi; India

Kochi tourism is one of the ideal spots for spending your vacation. Kochi or also known as Cochin is a city located in Southwest part of India in the state of coastal state of Kerala. The city is not only a tourist attraction but also a well connected port. Kochi also acts as your break point or a hub to start the touring in South of India; mainly exploring Kerala. Here are few places to visit in Cochin.

1. The Dutch Palace

This palace was built by Portuguese in 1555.  ‘Cochin´s Royal family’ use to live in this huge palace. Dutch people repaired this palace and hence it is called as Dutch palace. This palace had amazing wall paintings and murals which depicted the story of Ramayana (Indian mythology).The paintings have various episodes like Sita haran (abduction of Sita), Agni pariksha (fire test) and other scenes of Ramayana. Few of the paintings also depicted parts of Krishna Leela (acts of Lord Krishna) and family scenes of Lord Vishnu. You will notice that some of the murals are now damaged but they have amazing artwork still to witness.

Inside the palace you can witness the museum where items from 15^th century are displayed. Apart from old age weapons and utensils we also found some unique things like very huge earrings, necklaces made out of rice, iron scissors, iron hairpins which were about 15 cms long and similar other things are displayed in the museum.

Like any other museum this one do does not allow any photography   hence keep your eyes wide open and gather good memories of the place. The entrance ticket here is about 5INR per person (price as per November 2011).

2. Synnoge

Synnoge is another tourist attraction in Kochi. It is a Jewish place where the pulpit was located. This place is a 5 minute walk from the Dutch palace and hence it is wise idea to club with the same. En-route you can make a visit to various handicraft shops, and shop some huge sculptures, and many traditional things made of brass and other metal. Each of these things are master piece and if you are fond of them then it is a must buy from there. Yes they are definitely heavy on pockets.

3. St Francis Church

This church is built in 1979 and it is just opposite the place where Vasco de Gama landed in Kochi. The ashes of Vasco de Gama´s were kept in this church for few years but later his son took them back to Portuguese. The architecture of the church is worth the visit.

4. Chinese Fishing Net.

One of the main attractions of Kochi is Chinese fishing net. If you are lucky then you spot few fishermen catching fishes. Not a clean place though but a different experience. Many harbour ships have their halt stations at this junction. A Launch at the port can take your car on the opposite side of the bank. It costs about 25 INR per vehicle.

Once in Kochi you need to try the local cuisine out here which includes Kerala Paratha(Indian bread).