WHAT INDIA’S JEWISH BUILDINGS HAVE TO SAY
Since then, younger generations have left — all except two. Over the decades, the street was taken over by handicraft traders and Kashmiri souvenir shops, and would be dead by nightfall. But now, as Kochi’s smart city project is underway, the street isn’t only getting a facelift, a small group of stakeholders is seeing to it that they also reengineer some of that “oldworld charm” and transform the area into a “living museum”.
At Mumbai’s Kala Ghoda
Of India’s abundant heritage architecture, buildings of Jewish origin hold a special place. In the last few decades, these private bungalows and estates, as well as public places such as synagogues and hospitals, have become the subject of major restoration work — even as the number of Jews in India dwindled to below 5,000 according to the 2011 census.
“Jewish heritage in India is one of those aspects that shines globally because this is one of a few countries where Jews have not been persecuted historically, even during the World War years,” says conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah. “And India is the only country where the restoration of Jewish heritage has been funded by people of other faiths, not necessarily only by Jewish organisations. That is truly unique.”
The story of Kochi’s Jewish heritage architecture is mirrored in Mumbai, Kolkata and Pune — the main cities where Baghdadi Jews settled during the 18th and 19th centuries. In Mumbai’s Kala Ghoda district, Lambah and team brought back to life the 150yearold Knesset Eliyahoo synagogue in 2019, and the David Sassoon Library and Reading Room last year.
Both received financial support from the JSW Foundation, along with ICICI Bank, Hermès and others for the library. “The restoration of the synagogue and library has set the stage for cultural activity,” says Lambah. “An allfaith, peacemusic performance took place at the synagogue some years ago, and the library is now a venue for miscellaneous Kala Ghoda Festival events. That gives back to the city in terms of being a cultural melting pot.”
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