Recreation and Sightseeing Hotel Taj Malabar, Cochin

Enjoy a therapeutic Ayurveda oil application at the Tamara Spa. While you're there, choose from a variety of rejuvenation programs that are sure to drive stress and tension away. Practice yoga and meditation techniques, that will soothe your nerves and uplift your spirits considerably. Gaze out onto the vast stretches of South India's finest infinity pool. Finally, work out at our well-equipped gym or indulge in an aerobics session to keep in shape.

Pool Side Bar
An enchanting bar, overlooking Aquarius, the swimming pool. The bar serves a wide range of exotic cocktails and mocktails and snacks, throughout the day.

SightSeeing
Bolghatty Palace
Once a mansion of the British Resident and now a hotel, is in palm fringed Bolghatty Island.

Mattancherry Palace
The palace (Dutch Palace) was built by the Portuguese in 1557 and presented to the Cochin Raja, Veera Kerala Varma. The Dutch renovated it after 1663, and hence the palace has another name, 'Dutch Palace'. The most important feature of Mattanchery Palace is the murals in the bedchambers and other rooms, which depict scenes from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranic legends connected with Shiva, Vishnu, Krishna, Kumara and Durga. These murals are some of the most beautiful and extensive, and are one of the wonders of India.

The Shiva temple in Ettumanur ( near Kottayam) has similar murals. Interior of Jewish Synagogue

Jewish Synagogue
Constructed in 1568, this is the oldest synagogue in the Commonwealth. A stone slab from Kochangadi synagogue (built in 1344, and has then disappeared), inscribed in Hebrew, can be found on the inner surface of the wall.

The synagogue has hand-painted, willow pattern floor tiles brought from China.

St. Francis Church
Built in 1503 by Portugese Franciscan friars, this is India's oldest European-built church. The original structure was wood, but was rebuilt in stone in mid-16th century. Vasco da Gama, the first European to reach India, died in Cochin in 1524 and was buried here for 14 years before his remains were transferred to Portugal. The tombstone still stands. Chinese Fishing Nets
Lined along the sea-front, these fishing nets exhibit a mechanical method of catching fish, introduced by Chinese traders from the court of Kublai Khan. These nets are also seen along the backwaters between Cochin and Kottayam, and between Alleppey (Alappuzha) and Quilon (Kollam). They are mainly used at high tide.