Mala Synagogue

2021-12-29T05:52:31Z

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{{Short description|Former synagogue in Mala, Kerala, India}}
{{For|a full list of Synagogues in Kerala|List of Synagogues in Kerala}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2018}}{{Infobox religious building|building_name=Mala Synagogue|religious_affiliation=[[Orthodox Judaism]]|image=Synagogue at Mala -Kerala.jpg|image_upright=|caption=|location=[[Mala, Kerala|Mala]], [[Kerala]]|geo={{coord|10.1797|N|76.2097|E|display=inline,title}}|rite=|country=India|consecration_year=|functional_status=Kerala Jews Lifestyle Museum|leadership=|website=|architect=|architecture_type=[[Synagogue]]|architecture_style=[[Cochin Jewish Architecture]]|groundbreaking=|year_completed=1930 A.D|construction_cost=|facade_direction=South|capacity=|length=|width=|width_nave=|height_max=|materials=|specifications=no}}The '''Mala Synagogue ('''''[[Malayalam]]''''': മാള ജൂതപ്പള്ളി)''' is one of the oldest extant synagogues in [[India]] and was built by the historic [[Malabar Jews]] of [[Kerala]]. It is located at [[Mala, Kerala|Mala]], a small town in [[Thrissur district]] of Kerala state in south India.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.ananthapuri.com/kerala-history.asp
|title=Cultural Heritage of Kerala
|publisher=Ananthapuri.com
|accessdate=2012-06-20
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120601005524/http://www.ananthapuri.com/kerala-history.asp
|archive-date=1 June 2012
|url-status=dead
}}</ref>

The Mala synagogue is owned and managed by the [[Gram panchayat|Mala Panchayat]] now.
During 1954-1955,<ref name="mala_website"/> due to the [[Aliyah]] of the Malabar Jewish community from Kerala to Israel, the community had handed over both the Mala Synagogue and the associated Jewish Cemetery to the Mala Panchayat for safekeeping.
The Synagogue is currently defunct and does not have any religious material inside it {{citation needed|date=December 2017}}.

==History==
The Mala Synagogue is a heritage monument of the Malabar Jews and a standing example of the syncretic religious history of Kerala together with the several [[List of Synagogues in Kerala|other Synagogues in Kerala]] that are still existing around [[Paravur, Kollam|Paravur]] and [[Kochi]].
A hypothesis even proposes that the town's name '''Mala''' may have originated from the [[Hebrew]] word "''Mal-Aha''", which means "Center of Refugee".<ref name="mala_website" />

=== Establishment of Synagogue ===
There are different opinions made by from historians about the origin of the Mala Synagogue.

According to Prem Doss Swami Doss Yehudi, a Dravidian Judaist and historian, an ancient Jewish Malayalam folk song mentions that the synagogue was built in the 11th century using the wood donated to [[Joseph Rabban]] in 1000 CE by the king of the erstwhile [[Kodungallur|Kodungallur Kingdom]].{{citation needed|date=May 2018}}
The first structure was dismantled during the 14th century due to unknown reasons (presumably after the [[Great Periyar Flood of 1341]] but not necessarily due to the floods) and a new building was constructed in 1400.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}}

This reconstructed 14th century synagogue was renovated almost four centuries later, in 1792, most likely to repair the damages suffered during the [[Mysorean invasion of Kerala]] by Tipu Sultan during the [[Second Anglo-Mysore War]] of early 1780s.
However, Rev. [[Thomas Dawson (missionary)|Thomas Dawson]], a [[CMS missionary]] stationed in Kochi during 1817, had a different opinion. During his site visits, he found that even though almost three decades had passed since Tipu Sultan's [[Treaty of Seringapatam|surrender of Malabar]] to the British in 1792, the synagogue building still remained in ruins.<ref name="waronker_cochinsyn">{{Cite web|url=http://cochinsyn.com/page-mala.html|title=The Synagogues of Kerala|website=cochinsyn.com|last=Waronker
|first=Jay A.|access-date=2017-12-08}}</ref>

In 1909, the old 19th century building was rebuilt (in part or in full) on the same foundation.<ref name="waronker_cochinsyn" />

There is also another view on the existence of historical evidence indicating that the Synagogue was constructed in 1597 {{citation needed|date=December 2017}}.

=== Synagogue in the Piyyutim of Cochin jews ===

=== After aliyah in 1955 ===
When the Mala Jewish community started migrating to Israel in 1955, the Synagogue was handed over to Mala [[Gram Panchayat]] in 20 December 1954. The Panchayat now owns the Synagogue and it was used as a hall.
The Synagogue comes with a cemetery which was also handed over Mala Gram Panchayat on 1 April 1955.<ref name="mala_website">{{cite web
|url=http://www.mala.co.in/jewish-monument-mala-thrissur-kerala
|title=Jewish Monument Mala Thrissur, Kerala
|publisher=Mala.com
|accessdate=2012-06-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://cochinsyn.com/page-architecture.html\
|title=Architecture
|publisher=Friends of Kerala Synagogues 2011
|accessdate=2012-06-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.isjm.org/jhr/IInos3-4/india.htm
|title=ISJM Jewish Heritage Report
|publisher=International Survey of Jewish Monuments
|accessdate=2012-06-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/kerala/travel-and-tourism/synagogues.html
|title=Kerala Synagogues
|publisher=Mapsofindia.com
|accessdate=2012-06-20
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120710203942/http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/kerala/travel-and-tourism/synagogues.html
|archive-date=10 July 2012
|url-status=dead
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.beautifulkerala.com/coco/redcarpet/trichur.php
|title=District of Kerala :: Trichur
|publisher=Coco Planet Tour Company
|accessdate=2012-06-20}}</ref>

=== Decades of Neglect ===

=== Restoration ===

== Mala Jews ==

{{Empty section|date=December 2021}}

== Architecture ==
[[File: Mala Jewish Synagogue 02.jpg | thumb|left | Women's seat inside the synagogue]]All the 8 [[List of Synagogues in Kerala|synagogues in Kerala]] built during the recent centuries — located at Chendamangalam, Paravoor, [[Mala, Kerala|Mala]], [[Kochi, India|Kochi]] and [[Ernakulam]] — have similar traditional [[Synagogue Architecture|architectural]] features:

* a central [[Bema#Judaism|bimah]] of brass or [[silver]] metal on a [[concrete]] or stone base
* an ark on the western wall
* a balcony above the eastern entry to the sanctuary that is used by the reader on certain holidays.
* a women's gallery behind the balcony, with a stairway leading up to it, usually from outside the building.

== Mala Jewish Cemetery ==

{{Empty section|date=December 2021}}

== See also ==

* [[Cochin Jews]]
* [[Mala, Kerala|Mala]]
* [[Muziris]]
* [[List of synagogues in Kerala]]
* [[Cochin Jewish Architecture]]
* [[History of the Jews in India]]
* [[Gathering of Israel]]
* [[Judaism]]
* [[Anjuvannam]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Mala Synagogue}}

{{Tourist attractions in Thrissur}}

[[Category:Cochin Jews]]
[[Category:Orthodox Judaism in India]]
[[Category:Orthodox synagogues]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Thrissur district]]
[[Category:Synagogues in Kerala]]
[[Category:History of Thrissur district]]
[[Category:Sephardi Jewish culture in India]]
[[Category:Sephardi synagogues]]
[[Category:Religious buildings and structures in Thrissur district]]
[[Category:16th-century synagogues]]
[[Category:Religious buildings and structures completed in 1597]]
[[Category:1597 establishments in India]]

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Mala Synagogue