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{{short description|Synagogue in Kerala, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox religious building
| name = Kadavumbhagham Ernakulam Synagogue
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| image = Kadavumbhagam Ernakulam Malabar Jewish Synagogue2.jpg
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| caption = The synagogue interior, in 2022
| religious_affiliation = [[Judaism]]
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| organisational_status = [[Synagogue]]
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| location = [[Kochi, Kerala|Kochi]], Ernakulam district, Kerala
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| country = India
| map_type = India Kerala
| map_size = 250
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| map_caption = Location of the synagogue in [[Kerala]]
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| established = 1200 [[Common Era|CE]]
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The '''Kadavumbhagham Ernakulam Synagogue''' is a [[Judaism|Jewish]] congregation and [[synagogue]], located in [[Kochi, Kerala|Kochi]], in the Ernakulam district in the state of Kerala, India.

Established in 1200 [[Common Era|CE]]<ref name="Waronker2010">{{cite book |last=Waronker |first=Jay A. |year=2010 |title=The Synagogues of Kerala, India: Their Architecture, History, Context, and Meaning |publisher=Cornell University }}</ref>{{rp|15:247}} and restored several times on the same site,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cochinsyn.com/page-kada-erna.html |title=Kadavumbagam Synagogue, Ernakulam |first=Jay A. |last=Waronker |work=Synagogues of Kerala |date= |access-date= }}</ref> it is the oldest synagogue of the [[Cochin Jews|Malabar Jews]] with a [[Sefer Torah]] scroll and offering occasional services.<ref name="ANI2016">{{cite web |url=https://www.aninews.in/news/lifestyle/kochi-818-year-old-synagogue-reopens-devotees-welcome-sefer-torah201812070340270001/ |title=Kochi: 818-year-old synagogue reopens, devotees welcome 'Sefer Torah' |work=ANI |date=2016 |access-date= }}</ref> The synagogue is modelled on the earliest synagogue of the Malabar Jews at [[Muziris]] (currently submerged due to rising sea levels), which date from the time of [[Indo-Roman trade relations|ancient sea trade between the Mediterranean and Kerala]].

Although the former [[Chendamangalam Synagogue]], completed in 1166 CE, is the oldest surviving synagogue structure in Kerala and the [[Indian subcontinent]], its Torah scrolls were taken to Israel by its congregation in 1952. Consequently, the Kadavumbhagham Ernakulam Synagogue is the oldest Malabar Jewish synagogue today (since its restoration in 2018) with a Torah scroll that is occasionally used for services.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.onmanorama.com/travel/kerala/2019/06/24/kochi-jew-fulfills-dream-revamp-old-synagogue.html |title=Kochi Jew fulfills dream to revamp old synagogue |date=June 24, 2019 |access-date= }}</ref> The Paradesi Sephardic Synagogue at [[Mattancherry]] also has Torah scrolls, but was established much later, in 1568 CE.

== History ==

=== Background ===
Several millennia of contact and sea trade between Malabar Jews and local traders in Kerala led to immense cultural exchange between communities. Jewish traders travelled between the Mediterranean region and Kerala in sea vessels similar to [[Uru (boat)|uru boats]] (a type of [[dhow]], which is even today made in [[Beypore]], Kerala).<ref name="Schoff" /><ref name="Miller" />

The Malabar Jews who settled since the times of [[King Solomon]] intermingled with the natives and thus share linguistic and cultural aspects with the local people. In contrast, the [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardic Jews]] that arrived more recently in 1568 have maintained a distinct identity. Some of the cultural similarities and exchanges between Malabar Jews and Kerala locals can be seen in language use. For instance, {{Lang|ta|tuki}} refers to 'peacock' in [[Tamil language|Tamil]], corresponding to {{Lang|he-latn|tukyim}} in Hebrew. Likewise, {{Lang|he-latn|metta}} in Hebrew means 'mattress', and {{Lang|ml|metta}} also refers to 'mattress' in [[Malayalam]] spoken by Kerala Nasrani Syrian Christians of Kerala.

=== Establishment of the congregation ===
[[File:Indo-Roman trade.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.15|Mediterranean–Kerala spice trade that brought Jews to Kerala]]

The Kadavambhagam Ernakulam Synagogue belongs to the diaspora of Jews who settled along the southwestern coast of India during the [[Sangam period]] (600 BCE – 300 CE), when a chief commodity being traded was [[black pepper]], used for food preservation and other purposes.<ref name="Miller" />

In ancient times, the port of [[Muziris]] (Muchiri) served as a hub of nautical trade between the [[Levant]] ([[Israel]], [[Phoenicia]], [[Rome]]) and Kerala.<ref name="Schoff">{{cite book |title=Periplus Maris Erythraei |trans-title=[[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea|The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]] |language=Latin |translator=Wilfred Harvey Schoff |orig-date=1912 |edition=reprinted South Asia Books |year=1995 |isbn=8121506999 }}</ref><ref name="Miller">{{cite book |author=Miller, J. Innes |orig-date=1969 |title=The Spice Trade of The Roman Empire: 29 B.C. to A.D. 641 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |edition=Special edition for Sandpiper Books |year=1998 |isbn=0198142641 }}</ref> A West Asian trading post emerged in the ancient Muziris region, as mentioned in the ''[[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]]'', written in the 3rd century BCE by a "Greek in Egypt, a Roman subject", as described by the translator Wilfred Harvey Schoff.<ref name="Schoff" /> This [[periplus]] refers to the [[Malabar Coast]] as '[[Limyrike]]'.<ref name="Schoff" /> The passage 53:17:15–27 mentions Limyrike to begin from Naura ([[Kannur]]) and [[Tyndis]] (Cerobothra, north of Muziris). The periplus also mentions [[Nelcynda]], which was once the capital of [[Ay dynasty|Ay Kingdom]].<ref name="Schoff" /><ref name="Miller" />

=== Early Muziris ===
Jews had settled as traders in the Malabar Coast area since the time of King Solomon.<ref name="Schoff" /><ref name="Miller" /> The ancient Malabar Jews were present all along the Limyrike through [[Kollam]], [[Alappuzha]], [[Kottayam]], [[Ezhimala]], [[Koyilandy|Pandalayini]], and most of all in [[Muziris]]. An ancient synagogue was said to have existed in Muziris, but is now believed to be submerged due to gradual rising sea level over the millennia.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

Early Jewish settlements also existed in Paloor ([[Palayur]]), as evidenced by ruins of an ancient synagogue. Old Malabar Jewish songs also mention Paloor as an important congregation for Jewish tradition along the Malabar Coast.<ref name="ZachariasOphira">{{cite book |editor=Zacharia, Scaria |translator=Gamliel, Ophira |year=2005 |title=Karkulali—Yefefiah—Gorgeous!: Jewish Women's Songs in Malayalam with Hebrew Translations |location=Jerusalem |publisher=Ben-Zvi Institute }}</ref> An early ''Nasrani Palli'' ('Christian place of worship') was established along the Jewish settlement of Paloor (Palayur) as well—the settlement of Paloor is also mentioned in the [[Saint Thomas Christians|Kerala Nasrani Syrian Christian]] Ramban song.<ref name="HalleguaKoder" /><ref name="Weil-1982">{{cite journal |last=Weil |first=Shalva |year=1982a |title=Symmetry between Christians and Jews in India: The Cananite Christians and Cochin Jews in Kerala |journal=Contributions to Indian Sociology |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=175–196 |doi=10.1177/006996678201600202 |s2cid=143053857}}</ref><ref name="NYTimes">{{Cite news |date=1986-02-22 |title=India Has a Long History of Native Christianity |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/22/opinion/l-india-has-a-long-history-of-native-christianity-736486.html |access-date=2022-11-05 |work=[[The New York Times]] |department=Opinion |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Malabar Cochin Jewish congregational music is in the ''[[organum]]'' style of music.<ref name="Spector">{{cite book |author=Spector, Johanna |year=1970 |chapter=Yemen |title=Encyclopedia Judaica |volume=16 |pages=749–759 |isbn= }}</ref><ref name="Spector1">{{cite journal |author=Spector, Joanna |year=1973 |title=Problems in the Study of Singing Traditions in the Music of the Jews |journal=Hagut Ivrit Ba'Amerika |volume= 2 |location=Israel |publisher=Brit Ivrit Olamit |pages= |issn= }}</ref><ref name="RossIsrael">{{cite journal |author=Ross, Israel J. |year=1979 |title=Ritual and Music in South India: Syrian Christian Liturgical Music in Kerala |journal=Asian Music |pages=80–98 |volume=11 |number=1 |doi=10.2307/833968 |jstor=833968 }}</ref> Even today the song "Yigdal Elohim Chai" has the same tune in Yemenite Jewish tradition and Malabar Jewish tradition.<ref name="Spector" /><ref name="Spector1" /><ref name="RossIsrael" />

Several waves of Jews migrated from the Levant to the Malabar Coast of Kerala. The earliest Jewish groups that settled the coast since the time of King Solomon are called the Malabar Jews ('Malabar Yehudan'), who form the original core population of the [[Cochin Jews]]. The migration began from 722 BCE after the [[Assyrian captivity|Assyrian conquest of Israel]]; further waves were recorded after the destruction of the [[First Temple]] by [[Nebuchadnezzar II]], the fall of the [[Second Temple]] in 70 CE, the failure of the [[Bar Kokhba revolt]] (132 CE), and then subsequent attacks on the Jewish communities by various groups.

=== Regional expansion ===

Later Jewish settlements moved to further inland regions from Muziris. Through the 1200s, additional synagogues were constructed. Both the cities of [[Mattancherry]] and [[Ernakulam]] ([[Kochi]]) each have a Thekkumbhagam synagogue and a Kadavambhagam synagogue. These four synagogues were essentially built as continuations of the synagogue in Muziris.

The present-day Kadavumbhagam Ernakulam Synagogue site is from 1200 CE, although the structure has been renovated.<ref name="synagogue360">{{Cite web |title=Kadavumbagam Synagogue |website=Synagogues360 |url=https://synagogues-360.anumuseum.org.il/gallery/kadavumbagam-synagogue/ |access-date=2022-11-05}}</ref> The Jewish settlement of [[Mala, Kerala|Mala]] followed, and the [[Mala Synagogue]] was established around 1200 CE as well. This synagogue site still exists and has one of the largest graveyards in India spread across {{cvt|4|acre|ha|order=flip}}.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

Additional settlements were at [[Chendamangalam Synagogue]], [[Paravur Synagogue]], Paravur Jew Town, and Paravur Jew Street. The oldest tombstone from this community – the tombstone of Sarah Bet Israel – is today to be seen in the Chendamangalam Synagogue's Jewish cemetery. This is the oldest tombstone in all of the Indian subcontinent and dates from around the time of the synagogue's founding in 1166.<ref name="minorsights">{{Cite web |title=India: Minor Synagogues of Kerala - Yahweh's own country |url=http://www.minorsights.com/2016/03/india-minor-synagogues-of-kerala.html |work=Minor Sights |date=March 2016 |access-date=2022-11-05}}</ref> Today, the present-day Paravur Synagogue, Jew Town, and Jew Street, and the Chendamangalam Synagogue and Jewish cemetery are all part of the Muziris heritage project.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

By the 1300s, Arab traders had settled in the areas under the control of the [[Zamorin]]. This earned the Zamorin significantly more taxes from the larger Arab trading population than the smaller Jewish community. As the Arabs gained more prominence in the [[Kozhikode]] region, the Jewish population there began to leave or integrate with the Arabs. Even today, there is a Jew Street in Kozhikode.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

In the 16th century, [[Paradesi Jews]] were the last significant migration of Jews from the Levant, following the [[Spanish Inquisition]] in 1492. In 1568, they finished constructing a [[Sephardic Jews|Sephardic]] synagogue, known today as the [[Paradesi Synagogue]], near the [[Kadavumbhagam Mattancherry Synagogue|Kadavambhagam Mattancherry Synagogue]].

=== Copper plates ===
[[File:Syrian copper plates - Kollam (c. 883 AD).jpg|thumb |upright=0.9|[[Quilon Syrian copper plates]] with inscriptions in Old Malayalam, Kufic, and [[Hebrew]] (849 and {{Circa|883}}). Replicas of these were enshrined in the [[Israel Museum]] in 2017.<ref name="IsraelKerala">{{cite news |title=Kerala Jewish and Kerala Syrian Christian Copper plate Replicas in Israel Museum |date=5 July 2017 |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/narendra-modi-gifts-two-sets-of-relics-from-kerala-to-netanyahu/article19214296.ece |access-date= }}</ref>]]

In 1000 CE (though possibly as early as the third century CE), the local ruler of Kerala bestowed the [[Cochin Jews]] with [[Jewish copper plates of Cochin|copper plates]] inscribed with 72 privileges (rights). These privileges included being exempt from certain taxes, permission to construct a [[palanquin]], and permission to form a trading guild ([[anjuvannam]]). This indicates that their religious leader had a high social standing and favorable position with the king. [[Thomas of Cana copper plates|Similar copper plates]] were given to the Kerala Nasrani Syrian Christians;<ref name="Weil-1982"/>{{rp|184–187}} these have old Malayalam inscriptions and as well as signatures in [[Hebrew]], [[Kufic]], and [[Pahlavi scripts|Pahlavi]].<ref name="Gamaliel" /><ref name="Weil-1982"/>{{rp|187}} In fact, they have the oldest [[Hebrew]] inscriptions in Kerala and India,<ref name="Gamaliel" /> which are taken as evidence of the presence of Jews in Kerala since antiquity.<ref name="Gamaliel">{{cite journal |author=Gamliel, O. |year=2018 |title=Back from Shingly: revisiting the pre-modern history of Jews in Kerala |journal=Indian Economic and Social History Review |volume=55 |number=1 |pages=53–76 |doi=10.1177/0019464617745926 |url=https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/157659/1/157659.pdf }}</ref><ref name="Weil-1982"/>{{rp|187}}<ref name="MalayaliChristianJewish">{{cite web |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/indian-characters-but-a-jewish-sensibility/ |title=Indian characters but a Jewish sensibility |website=[[The Times of Israel]] |date= |access-date= }}</ref>

In the paper "Kerala and Her Jews", published by Cochin Jewish Synagogue (1984), the Cochin Jewish writers Fiona Hallegua and Shabdai Samuel Koder wrote: "...the Syrian Christian [copper] plates with the signature of four Jewish witnesses in Judeo-Persian, which incidentally is the second oldest inscription in Judeo-Persian in the world, are a few of the ancient relics that can still be seen to remind one of the glorious past of this forgotten outpost of the Jewish world."<ref name="HalleguaKoder">{{cite book |author1=Hallegua, F. |author2=Koder, S. |year=1984 |title=Kerala and Her Jews |publisher=Cochin Jewish Synagogue |pages=1–3 }}</ref>

In 2017, the Israeli government enshrined a replica of the Kerala [[Quilon Syrian copper plates|Nasrani Syrian Christian copper plates]] in the [[Israel Museum]] in Jerusalem.<ref name="IsraelKerala" /> A plaque was installed citing that the Hebrew inscriptions on the Kollam copper plates from the [[Mar Thoma Syrian Church]], in [[Thiruvalla]], Kerala, are the oldest evidence of the presence of Jews in Kerala and India.<ref name="IsraelKerala" />

== Present day ==
Following the creation of the modern nation of [[Israel]] in 1948, a large portion of the synagogue's congregation immigrated to Israel along with the Torah scrolls. [[Sabbath]] services at the Kadavumbhagam Ernakulam Synagogue continued until 1972.<ref name="synagogue360" /> For decades, the synagogue remained without any Sabbath services and without a Sefer Torah.

In 2018, the Kadavunbhagham Ernakulam Synagogue was restored, and the [[Sefer Torah]] brought back to the synagogue after 46 years.<ref name="ANI2016" /> The only other synagogue in Kochi that has Torah scrolls is the Paradesi Synagogue of the Sephardic Jews in Mattancherry. Today, the synagogue is nestled within the bustling market at Ernakulam.

==Architecture==
The synagogue's ceiling is decorated with intricate carvings. Like many orthodox Jewish synagogues, the synagogue has [[Mechitza|separate seating]] for men and women; the women's section is located in the balcony area.<ref name="Waronker2010"/>{{rp|28}}

The synagogue has a [[Bema|bimah]] and a much decorated wooden [[Torah ark]]—typically plated with precious metal like gold or silver—that houses the Torah scrolls.<ref name="Waronker2010"/>{{rp|23}} The ark constitutes the [[Holy of Holies]], which is separated only by a [[parochet]] (curtain).<ref name="Waronker2010"/>{{rp|28, 38}} The synagogue also has a [[sanctuary lamp]] suspended from the ceiling at the centre of the sanctuary.<ref name="Waronker2010"/>{{rp|84}}

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
Kadavumbhagam Ernakulam Cochin Jewish Synagogue Menorah1a.jpg|[[Temple menorah|Menorah]]
Kadavumbhagam Ernakulam Cochin Kerala Jewish Synagogue Bima.jpg|[[Bema|Bimah]]
Kadavumbhagam Ernakulam Kerala Jewish Synagogue9.jpg|Synagogue interior viewed from the balcony
Kadavumbhagam Ernakulam Kerala Jewish Synagogue Womens Section5.jpg|Women's balcony (''[[mechitza]]'')
Kadavumbhagam Ernakulam Kerala Jewish Synagogue1 Ceiling.jpg|Synagogue ceiling with floral patterns
</gallery>

== See also ==
{{stack|{{portal|Judaism|India}}}}
* [[History of the Jews in India]]
* [[List of synagogues in India]]
* [[List of synagogues in Kerala]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{Div col}}
* Koder, S. "History of the Jews of Kerala", ''The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India'', ed. G. Menachery, 1973.
* Puthiakunnel, Thomas. (1973) "Jewish Colonies of India Paved the Way for St. Thomas", ''The Saint Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India'', ed. George Menachery, Vol. II., Trichur.
* Daniel, Ruby & B. Johnson. (1995). ''Ruby of Cochin: An Indian Jewish Woman Remembers''. Philadelphia and Jerusalem: Jewish Publication Society.
* Menachery, George, ed. (1998) ''The Indian Church History Classics'', Vol. I, ''The Nazranies'', Ollur, 1998. {{ISBN|81-87133-05-8}}
* Katz, Nathan; & Goldberg, Ellen S; (1993) ''The Last Jews of Cochin: Jewish Identity in Hindu India''. Foreword by Daniel J. Elazar, Columbia, SC: Univ. of South Carolina Press. {{ISBN|0-87249-847-6}}
* Menachery, George, ed. (1973) ''The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India'' B.N.K. Press, vol. 2, {{ISBN|81-87132-06-X}}, Lib. Cong. Cat. Card. No. 73-905568; B.N.K. Press
{{div col end}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category-inline|Kadavumbhagam Ernakulam Synagogue}}

{{Synagogues in India}}

[[Category:1200 establishments in Asia]]
[[Category:13th-century religious buildings and structures in India]]
[[Category:13th-century synagogues in Asia]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Kochi]]
[[Category:Cochin Jews]]
[[Category:Religious buildings and structures in Ernakulam district]]
[[Category:Synagogues in Kerala]]
[[Category:12th-century synagogues]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1200]]

Kadavumbhagam Ernakulam Synagogue - Revision history

Eziosolution at 00:46, 19 December 2025