Kochi gets the first tourist police station in India
Published March 8, 2010 | 
In a bid to make Kerala a safe destination for foreign and local tourists, an exclusive tourist police station has been set up in the heritage zone of Mattancherry. The first of its kind in the country, this will make Kerala more tourist friendly and safe.
Mattanchery, home to the Jewish synagogue and various historic edifices holds an important place in the tourist map of Kerala that draws many tourists from far and wide. The special police station will offer all the facilities that any tourist may require. From assisting foreign travelers to clarifying their doubts on passport and visa and registering complaints and grievances on lost passports and expired visa , this police station has a wide gamut of services- all under one roof!
The police would work in tandem with the Department of Tourism to set up a helpdesk at the station, where the tourists can get route maps and brochures about different tourist destinations in the State as well. In addition, there are facilities for tourists to make booking for boating as well as hiring taxis. The State Tourism Department will soon publish the services of tourism police in all leading tourism journals in the world to ensure maximum coverage and publicity of this novel scheme.
The Police museum will have a rich display of police uniforms, combat weapons and armoury, arranged in chronological order right from the colonial period to the present day. With the advent of the tourist police station, the tourists can look forward to have a hassle free and enjoyable sight seeing experience in Mattancherry and FortKochi , considered as tourist hot spots.
A Jewish wedding in Kochi
Published December 30, 2008 | Kerala is fast catching up the fancy of prospective couples all over the world as a trendy overseas wedding destination. Many couples who come down to Keralaprefer to have an exceptional Kerala wedding where the bride and groom don the Kerala attire and dress up like any other Kerala couple. However this Jewish wedding that took place on Sunday belonged to a different genre altogether because the groom belonged to the Jewish community of Kerala.
At present only around 48 Jews remain in Kochi as the majority of them have migrated to their distant homeland after India’s independence. The Jews who had originally settled in the ancient port of Cranganore, were forced to flee to escape the Portuguese onslaught during the 14th century. It was then the Cochin Maharaja offered land in Mattancherry, where they constructed a synagogue in 1568.
This Jewish wedding brought back nostalgic memories for many Cochinites as the city woke up on Sunday to a long cherished Jewish wedding, which took place after almost two decades. In the Paradesi Synagogue in the old Jewish town in Mattancherry, Solomon and Susan were united in marriage on Sunday at 5.30 p.m. Only a select gathering of guests were allowed to witness this wedding, which was held behind closed doors amidst very tight security in the wake of the recent terror strikes in the Jewish installations in Mumbai.
The marriage was conducted as per the Jewish customs. Nine candles to denote the ninth day of the Jewish Hanukkah festival were lit and the blessing in Aramaic was read out, which is something exceptional to Kochi Jews. The guests applauded when the groom slipped the wine-soaked wedding ring on the bride’s finger, which was followed by the unique ritual of breaking a wineglass, which is followed by only Jews in Kerala to denote the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. This wedding was also different from other Jewish weddings in that it was the chief warden , Samuel Hallegua, who read out the seven blessings in Hebrew and not the rabbi.