ChembiC a Palli

palms sway overhead, lush vegetation shades narrow roads, large water reservoirs bring to mind the classic Indian temple pool. Roads jog, narrow lanes branch o* the main street, twisting and turning to reach groups of family homes.  ere are few cars on these back lanes and a village atmosphere permeates the neighbourhood. Children are everywhere, women gather to cook, to wash clothes, to talk, and to watch their o* spring.  e neighbourhood is do& ed with shrines dedicated to the early scholars who brought Islam to Cochin. Many are secreted in medieval lanes. One node holds the grave of Ali Marankar, a personage who, neighbours confess, they know li& le of except for the remembered name. An ancient banyan tree has embraced the tomb and the remnants of the shrine’s stone walls.  e mosques showcased in this chapter are early adaptations of the Kerala vernacular.  ey are some of the oldest mosques still standing in Cochin. All sit on raised plinths of granite with plastered laterite walls. From a utilitarian foundation, the buildings rise up, each level bringing forth more  nely wrought details. Door and window openings at the older mosques are rectangular; fenestration at the later structures re! ects the assimilation of European in! uence. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries structural framing was simpli ed. Roofs continued to dominate the ensembles. At the end of the chapter, we take a look at several mosques in Ponnani, known as the ‘Mecca of Malabar’. One hundred and forty kilometres north of Cochin, the city of Ponnani is the centre of Islamic study for the state of Kerala. Here many old mosques still stand, although several have been engulfed by additions. Understanding of the vernacular mosques of Cochin can be expanded by looking at Ponnani, especially considering the strong ties that existed in the sixteenth century between the two cities.  e Muslims of Cochin looked to the scholars of Ponnani for religious counsel. Both cities were active ports with large Muslim trading families, many of whom were united by marriage.

sN¼n« ]Ån Chembi
a Palli—Kochangadi Juma Masjid Malayalam: Chembu (copper) Palli (church or mosque)  e heart of Kochangadi is Chembi& a Palli, the oldest and  nest mosque of the area.  e grand two-storey mosque is centrally located on a large plot of land. Well-travelled paths pass through the low-walled compound, connecting roads to the east, west and south. Sharing the compound with the regal mosque building are two shrines and several outbuildings. Most of the property is open, punctuated by large trees.  e heavily vegetated ground is predominantly used for burial. Graveyards to the north and south of the mosque have a sca& ering of old granite and new marble stones. Most graves are merely body-length mounds which slowly se& le back into the earth.