Escape to another world in Kochi

Civil Society Reviews

WHEN you are fleeing the noxious air and grim life during winter in Delhi and its surroundings, where should you go for a complete reset? Just about any place at a safe distance would be fine.

If you are okay with a three-hour flight, you could try Kochi for the experience of being in a lively city by the coast. It has an unabashed secular spirit, history in its streets, some great food and the scope to walk around as you please at any hour. The most important box to tick would be AQI — be assured you can breathe here.

December is the time in Kochi when churches and homes are lit up and the mood is festive in the run-up to Christmas and year-end. Cafes and restaurants are full. Wind down the day with some beer or wine. Pavement stalls boasting of the best meals in town actually serve them.

Go to Kochi for its easy pace, diversity, friendly local people and brooding architecture. But isolation is not what you should wish for. At this time of the year Kochi is teeming with travellers from all over because of its international appeal. The Muzirus Biennale, an iconic arts festival, is held every two years — and this was a Biennale year with exhibitions and events spread across the city. Yet opportunities to do your own thing abound and solitude can be yours if you seek it. 

St Andrew’s Church

Kochi was the first European settlement in India. After the Portuguese, came the Dutch and then the British.  Those origins show up at every corner. The Francis Xavier Church was built in 1503. This is where Vasco da Gama, the intrepid Portuguese explorer who found his way to India by sea and landed at Calicut in 1498, was buried after he died in 1524. There is also the Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica, originally built by the Portuguese in 1505, almost demolished but spared by the Dutch and then demolished and rebuilt by the British in 1887.

There are homestays and heritage hotels to choose from. We opt for Tower House because it is run by Aman Nath’s Neemrana Hotels and having stayed at his other properties elsewhere we are pretty confident that we won’t be disappointed.

Tower House sits on the edge of Vasco da Gama Square beyond which there is a promenade with fish stalls and other hawkers. A line of Chinese fishing nets in the sea comes next. These are large nets that mechanically cast for a catch. They are believed to have been introduced in the 1400s by traders from China.

Unlike the churches, the square is a lost opportunity to capture Kochi’s history. It has been left to fend for itself with sundry stalls and is a messy, often noisy, public space in need of better attention.

But dedicated it is to Vasco da Gama. And it is left to Tower House, our hotel, skillfully restored, to make up for what the square could have been.  

The lobby of Tower House with its central well and a twinkling Christmas tree

Aman Nath tells us, and then fishes out an old image, which shows Tower House much closer to the sea. During high tide boats came in and got parked at Tower House. Earlier there was a lighthouse at the location.

Now, as a restored building serving as a hotel, Tower House has high ceilings, arches, pillars and wooden staircases and floors. The rooms and common areas ramble with no attempt to monetize the space. A central cavity with wooden banisters allows you to peer down on the reception desk. Into this old structure have been gently added all the modern amenities you could ask for such as air conditioning and hot water and well-equipped bathrooms with all rooms.

Room keys with names

The rooms have names, not numbers. Ours is Braganza. Others are Moens, Albuquerque, Vaz, Menezes — 15 in all. When you go out you leave your key with others in a brass salver at the front desk. A large Christmas tree, all lit up, dominates the lobby. But also, nearby a small Krishna idol is aglow.

Tower House is a nice place to stay because of its ambience, location at the heart of Kochi’s Fort area where everything is walking distance and, above all, its homely staff. Remember Aman Nath’s hotels are non-hotels. The predictable is not on offer.

Kochi’s Fort area is great for a ramble. Tower House gives you a shot at some solitude. The two go well together. So, sink into the hotel or go for a walk in the clean coastal air.

An evening well spent is at a Kathakali performance. It is by a group promoting classical art forms, including the martial arts. The show begins much before the performance — the audience can watch the dancers put on their make-up. Next comes a brief but lucid introduction to Kathakali. Finally, the dancers take the stage.

The auditorium is a quaint structure at the end of a lane in the midst of other buildings. Walking down, one doesn’t quite know what to expect or where one is headed. Very soon you are at a gently managed ticket counter. It is an experience full of memorable surprises. 

The Kathakali show is a stone’s throw from the Basilica, one of the many reminders of Kochi’s syncretic character. There are so many layers to discover. And though just a flight from Delhi, it's another world.