India is a migcal cuntry ,if any body want to see and talk to GOD FACE TO FACE THEN I,sugsect they should go and sea Dara Biasa it is base near Amritsar in punjab only place in the hole world ,you will find ,him talk to him ,see him.
This looks brill! My ex went to the beach in Goa on xmas day and it was deserted, he then got served Vulture instead of turkey for dinner it was hilarious.
I would say, If a person is going to India then they should plan their trip before they land in the country. Anywhere from 15-20 days are good enough to see places in one region. In 15-20 days you may explore good part of Southern India which includes cities like Bombay, Goa, Banglore, OOty, Mysore, Madurai etc etc. Majority of cities have kinda of gov/privatr tourism offica, so if you get register their you may be get your own private guide at reasonable price there. Private guides are better because they know alot about the town and they are in no rush since they are paid per day instead of salary, this means that the more time they spent with the tourist, the more money they make. One more good suggestion, when you are with the guide treat him like a good friend(feed them the same food or food of their choice, tip them at the end of the day), by doing this they might take you places which are not very popular among the tourists destination but are very facinating. If you are at anytime taking taxi, please get the taxi number and always carry phone with you.
Goa was under the rule of the Portugesse and the locals are not actually indian but of portugesse ancestory. There also is a high Jewish population like Kerela another Beauty spot.
Cochin Jews, also called Malabar Jews (Malabar Yehudan) are the ancient Jews and their descendants of the South Indian erstwhile state of Kingdom of Cochin which includes the present day port city of Kochi. [2] They traditionally spoke Judeo-Malayalam, a form of the Malayalam tongue, native to the state of Kerala, in India. Several rounds of immigration of the Jewish diaspora into Kerala led to a diversity amongst the Cochin Jews.
Some sources say that the earliest Jews were those who settled in the Malabar coast during the times of King Solomon of Israel, and after the Kingdom of Israel split into two [4]. They are sometimes referred to as the "black Jews". The Paradesi Jews, also called "White Jews", settled later, coming to India from European and Middle Eastern nations such as Holland and Spain, and bringing with them the Ladino language. Spanish and Portuguese Jews (Sephardim) settled in Goa in the 15th century, but this settlement eventually disappeared. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Cochin had an influx of Jewish settlers from the Middle East, North Africa and Spain.
Jews came to Kerala and settled as early as 700 BC for trade. An old, but not particularly reliable, tradition says that Jews of Cochin came in mass to Cranganore (an ancient port, near Cochin) after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. A chieftain by the name of Joseph Rabban, according to local tradition, was granted a principality over the Jews of Cochin by the Chera Emperor of Kerala, Bhaskara Ravivarman II [3]. His descendents had, in effect, their own principality (called Anjuvannam in Indian sources) for many centuries until a chieftainship dispute broke out between two brothers (one of them named Joseph Azar) in the 15th century. The dispute led neighboring princes to dispossess them. In 1524, the Muslims, backed by the ruler of Calicut (today called Kozhikode), attacked the Jews of Cranganore on the pretext that they were tampering with the pepper trade. Most Jews fled to Cochin and went under the protection of the Hindu Raja there. He granted them a site for their own town that later acquired the name "Jew Town" (by which it is still known). Hebrew inscription at the Paradesi Synagogue in Cochin. Hebrew inscription at the Paradesi Synagogue in Cochin.
Unfortunately for the Jews of Cochin, the Portuguese occupied Cochin in this same period and indulged in persecution of the Jews until the Dutch displaced them in 1660. The Dutch Protestants were tolerant, and the Jews prospered. In 1795 Cochin was occupied by and came under the control of the British Empire. In the 19th century, Cochin Jews lived in the towns of Cochin, Ernakulam, Aluva andNorth Paravur.
The Jews of Cochin did not adhere to the Talmudic prohibition, followed by other Orthodox Jews, against public singing by women, and therefore have a rich tradition of Jewish prayers and narrative songs performed by women in Judeo-Malayalam. Fearful of this tradition dying out, the Jewish Music Research Center at Hebrew University has compiled a CD of these songs.
Cochin Jews today
Today most of Cochin's Jews have emigrated (principally to Israel). Large groups have settled in the Moshavim of Nevatim in the Negev (southern Israel) and Yuval in the North, in the neighborhood of Katamon in Jerusalem, in Beer Sheva, Dimona and Yeruham. In both places there are Cochin synagogues. In Kerala there are still three synagogues; the one at Mattancherry, Cochin is still functioning.
Historically, part of the decline in Kerala's Jewish population can also be attributed to conversion. [5] Jews who converted during the time of St. Thomas and later, became Kerala's Nasrani or St. Thomas Christians. [5] While Jewish heritage is most readily observed among the Knanaya Christian-Jews of Kerala, elements of Jewish practice are present in most St. Thomas Christian denominations. [5]
Ruby of Cochin
Ruby Daniel emigrated to Israel from Cochin in 1951. Her 1995 memoir, Ruby of Cochin lists a fourth method for marriage among the Jews of Cochin: that of witness by the entire congregation to a marriage. The memoir includes her experience in the Armed Forces of India as a Jewish woman among Hindu and Muslim men.
Jews came to Kerala and settled as early as 700 BC for trade. An old, but not particularly reliable, tradition says that Jews of Cochin came in mass to Cranganore (an ancient port, near Cochin) after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. A chieftain by the name of Joseph Rabban, according to local tradition, was granted a principality over the Jews of Cochin by the Chera Emperor of Kerala, Bhaskara Ravivarman II [3]. His descendents had, in effect, their own principality (called Anjuvannam in Indian sources) for many centuries until a chieftainship dispute broke out between two brothers (one of them named Joseph Azar) in the 15th century. The dispute led neighboring princes to dispossess them. In 1524, the Muslims, backed by the ruler of Calicut (today called Kozhikode), attacked the Jews of Cranganore on the pretext that they were tampering with the pepper trade. Most Jews fled to Cochin and went under the protection of the Hindu Raja there. He granted them a site for their own town that later acquired the name "Jew Town" (by which it is still known).
Hebrew inscription at the Paradesi Synagogue in Cochin.
Hebrew inscription at the Paradesi Synagogue in Cochin.
Unfortunately for the Jews of Cochin, the Portuguese occupied Cochin in this same period and indulged in persecution of the Jews until the Dutch displaced them in 1660. The Dutch Protestants were tolerant, and the Jews prospered. In 1795 Cochin was occupied by and came under the control of the British Empire. In the 19th century, Cochin Jews lived in the towns of Cochin, Ernakulam, Aluva andNorth Paravur.
The Jews of Cochin did not adhere to the Talmudic prohibition, followed by other Orthodox Jews, against public singing by women, and therefore have a rich tradition of Jewish prayers and narrative songs performed by women in Judeo-Malayalam. Fearful of this tradition dying out, the Jewish Music Research Center at Hebrew University has compiled a CD of these songs.
Cochin Jews today
Today most of Cochin's Jews have emigrated (principally to Israel). Large groups have settled in the Moshavim of Nevatim in the Negev (southern Israel) and Yuval in the North, in the neighborhood of Katamon in Jerusalem, in Beer Sheva, Dimona and Yeruham. In both places there are Cochin synagogues. In Kerala there are still three synagogues; the one at Mattancherry, Cochin is still functioning.
Historically, part of the decline in Kerala's Jewish population can also be attributed to conversion. [5] Jews who converted during the time of St. Thomas and later, became Kerala's Nasrani or St. Thomas Christians. [5] While Jewish heritage is most readily observed among the Knanaya Christian-Jews of Kerala, elements of Jewish practice are present in most St. Thomas Christian denominations. [5]
Ruby of Cochin
Ruby Daniel emigrated to Israel from Cochin in 1951. Her 1995 memoir, Ruby of Cochin lists a fourth method for marriage among the Jews of Cochin: that of witness by the entire congregation to a marriage. The memoir includes her experience in the Armed Forces of India as a Jewish woman among Hindu and Muslim men.