Kathakali

We finished our time in Kochi with a trip to the fish market (pics 1 & 2) and St. Francis's Church (pic 3), the oldest European-built church in India (1506). We also went insidethe Santa Cruz Basilica, with the beautiful paintings on the ceiling depicting the passion of Christ.

For our last evening in town, a group of us took an auto rickshaw (I could swear we were going the wrong way down a one way street) to watch a performance of Kathakali, which literally means story-play. This artform is unique to Kerala and is over 400 years old. The actors wear costumes and have vividly painted faces which they use to tell the story (usually a legend from a Hindu epic) without speaking. They are accompanied by two percussionists, as well. We were able to go early and watch the actors put on their makeup as they transformed themselves before our eyes. (pics 4-6) At this cultural center, they have a "tourist version" where the host came out and told us about the art form, with demonstrations of all the eye, eyebrow, etc. movements. Next, she gave us a synopisis of what the story would be about, just in case we got lost not having words! Even getting soaked in the rickshaw coming back to the hotel was worth the amazing performance. We packed up for an early morning departure for a short flight to Chennai, on the southeastern coast of the country, where we will be for the next few days.