Morning walk to Mattancherry

Just down the road a few kilometres from Fort Kochi (keep in mind they are very sweaty walking kilometres when the temperature is 45C!) to Mattancherry and that feeling of walking through history continues with Brahman houses, Hindu temples, the ‘Dutch Palace’ (confusingly built and gifted by the Portuguese as a gift to the king of Cochin, around 1545), and right next door a Jewish synagogue and nearby a Syrian Orthodox Church. There is no shortage of subjects for the visiting sketcher!

Early one morning I drew this street corner (above) in Mattancherry as the sun came up. People slowly appeared from their houses to sweep paths or walk to the temple (obscured to the right of picture). The smell of breakfasts cooking wafted past as did older gentleman on large black Hero brand bicycles. The peace was occassionally punctuated by young guys on noisey ‘single pot’ Royal Enfield motorbikes. 

Suddenly the sound of drumming broke the calm as I was finishing my sketch and 2 young boys with shaven heads on a decorated carriage were carried past on the shoulders of a dozen or so men. 

I didn’t actually draw the beautiful old synagogue in Mattancherry/Jew Town. In fact it was hard to get close enough for all the ‘photographers’ and their ‘models’ posing for their Instagram feeds. Photography seems to be a big deal here, and they’re often shooting footage on full professional gear, even tripods and lighting.

To be honest some of the poses and poseurs made me nauseous so I decided to wander a little further along Jew Town Road to see what I could find. Eventually I found these old spice trader buildings and I got to draw them in relative peace. 

I love sketching patinated old buildings and I even got a brief look inside when I met the owner! Thats what I call a good morning out with a sketchbook.