Meow hoomans! Aroo here. As the Chief Operating Officer of the Cats of Kochi residence, I have taken it upon myself to learn about Fort Kochi culturally. I’m not only the COO but also the Matriarch so I need to be out and about, learning new things about Fort Kochi and be able to answer any question you or any of my fellow felines have! I had a wonderful musical experience through the Mehboob Memorial Orchestra where artistic elements of the Deccani Muslim culture were kept alive. Next up in my series, I went to check out the Gujarati Jain community of Fort Kochi!
The streets of Fort Kochi tell a story of their own. How Peter Celli Street comes from Petercelie, which means parsley in Dutch, how the K J Herschel Road was named after the Chairman of the Municipality, and how the Gujarati Road is a space carved out by the communities that made Fort Kochi their home a long time ago. What I don't understand is this – why don't we have a place called Cat Street? Or Meow Street? Or Purr Street? We cats have been in Fort Kochi even before hoomans, I tell you! This is blatant disrespect.
Anymeow, the Jain community from Kutch and Gujarat used to travel to Kochi for business and eventually settled with their families. The Jain Temple on the Gujarati Road, Mattancherry was constructed in 1904 with the main deity as Dharmnath. There are many other idols inside the temple that are worshipped. Currently, there are about 250 Jain families living in Kochi.
The temple is a gorgeous architectural structure (lots of spots to explore for a feline) and an intricately made gate that looks fun to climb.
Travellers, do note that the visiting hours are from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM only! There are a couple of guidelines that you’ll need to follow to enter. I have asked a hooman to take a picture of it here:
I also ordered them to make a map for you! (Love it when hoomans do all the work for you, amiright?)
The interior of the temple was wonderful and calm but I couldn’t have my peace for long. The whole temple was inhabited and ruled by another species – the pigeons! Every corner, every window, every space was being hogged by pigeons. At first, I tried not to be bothered by them, minding my own business and learning more about the religion of Jainism, deciphering the notices in Gujarati stuck everywhere, and talking to the members of the community. They told me how they have a school which teaches Gujarati among other initiatives taken up by the community. I also munched on the dhokla and jalebi they gave me. Soo yumm!
Perhaps due to my feline tendencies, they did not tell me about the main attraction of the Jain temple. Yes, I was also pointedly ignoring it. But of course, the activity was inevitable!
Right when it struck 12:15PM, all the hoomans rushed towards an open area of the temple where the priests were transferring mixed grains into plates. More food for me! Or so I thought.
But to my disappointment, nobody was paying attention to me! Everyone’s eyes were on the sky where the pigeons were circling the temple in big numbers. Then it came to my realization: the food was not for me, it was for them! This was not acceptable, I was going to make the pigeons my food. I sharpened my claws.
Soon, all the pigeons -some thousands of them- came down and were being fed by all the hoomans. I’ve never experienced a greater betrayal. The humankind needs to be destroyed to the ground.
“The pigeons are so cute, it’s so fun to feed them and watch them fly around.” I heard someone say. Hoomans were a lost cause, I’ve never met a creature so gullible.
I tried jumping on one or several of them, but I couldn’t catch them! They didn’t even look offended and kept eating away nonchalantly! Hmm. I don’t care anymore. I guess I could share some of the grains with them. I pointedly ignored the thousands of pigeons flying around me and kept eating.
Although I did share some treats with a feline fellow I met right outside!
Hoomans can go ahead and enjoy the supposedly fun and relaxing pigeon feeding activity at the Jain Temple! Even with the taunting creatures, I still enjoyed my adventure :)
Put your paws on the yellow button for the Google Maps location of the Jain temple: