A Day at Fort Kochi

A municipal town from 1866 to 1967, Fort Kochi now is one of the three main urban components that constitute the present day City of Kochi in the Indian State of Kerala, the other two being Mattancherry and Ernakulam. Once a fishing village of no significance in the Kingdom of Kochi in the pre-colonial Kerala, the territory that would be later known as Fort Kochi was granted to the Portuguese in 1503 by the Rajah of Kochi, who also gave them permission to build a fort near the waterfront to protect their commercial interests. The first part of the name Fort Kochi comes from this fort, Fort Emmanuel, which was later destroyed by the Dutch. Origin of the name „Kochi“ The most accepted theory is that the name derives from „kochazhi“ which, in Malayalam, denotes "small lagoon". Another view says that the name denotes, "CO-CHIN", meaning "LIKE-CHINA". yes, it looked like CHINA when the Chinese came here in 14th century and erected these beautiful Chinese nets. The chinese fishing nets (Cheenavala) are distinctly unique to Cochin. It is believed that traders from the court of the Chinese ruler Kublai Khan introduced these nets here. Oddly, these nets are found only in Kochi, outside China! Many fishermen earn their livelihood by fishing using these massive nets. A whole stretch of the coast along Fort Kochi and Vypeen are dotted with these nets.
Mythological explanation: An ancient legend says that the god Parasurama created Kerala by throwing his axe into the ocean. The ocean god retreated until the mark where the axe fell into the ocean.
Scientific theory: Some thousand years B.C. the region of today's Kerala had been covered by mangrove woods. When the sea level rose, turf/ and sand banks were created which formed the shape of the coastal area as we see it today.