The heritage mosques of Cochin

Text © Patricia Tusa Fels. Reproduced by permission of Mapin Publishing.

Cochin — the historic port-city on the Malabar coast in Kerala — has for centuries remained a centre of maritime trade along the Indian Ocean. These commercial contacts brought with them the earliest influences of Christianity, Judaism and Islam to India, resulting in a cosmopolitan mosaic of people in the region. Against this backdrop, some of the very first Indian mosques

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Text © Patricia Tusa Fels. Reproduced by permission of Mapin Publishing.

Cochin — the historic port-city on the Malabar coast in Kerala — has for centuries remained a centre of maritime trade along the Indian Ocean. These commercial contacts brought with them the earliest influences of Christianity, Judaism and Islam to India, resulting in a cosmopolitan mosaic of people in the region. Against this backdrop, some of the very first Indian mosques were built, located in compounds replete with coconut palms. The tropical mosques reveal a distinctive legacy in form, acknowledging and celebrating the place, history, and building techniques of the region.

The unique architecture of the Indian Ocean trade settlements, reflecting common climate and building materials, forms its own subset of Islamic architecture. The mosques of Kerala are some of the few remaining examples of a typology that once appeared throughout the tropical Muslim world of South and Southeast Asia. The concentrations of the unique Malabar mosques can be found in the coastal cities of Cochin, Calicut and Ponnani. Most of these vernacular mosques were constructed by resident masons and carpenters who were well versed in local design idioms and methods. Many of them have recently been demolished or remodeled, and replaced by generic concrete structures.

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