Ernakulam Pilgrim Centers

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Ernakulam (Cochin) Pilgrim Centre


Ernakulam district of Kerala has a few travel attractions, the religious centers are one of the prominent among them. The religious centers of Ernakulam are discussed below

Jewish Synagogue :



Jewish Synagogue is the oldest synagogue built in 1568. The main attractions of the synagogue are 18th century hand printed, willow patterned flow tiles from china, a clock tower, Hebrew inscriptions on stone slabs, ancient scripts on copper plates, the great scrolls of the Old Testament, etc. There are also gold and silver crowns preserved in this synagogue.

Kalady - Adi Sankaracharya :

It is located on the banks of River Periyar, which is the birthplace of Adi Sankaracharya, the great Indian philosopher of the 8th century. A shrine is here dedicated to Adi Guru in the name of Dakshimurthy and a temple dedicated to Goddess Sharada. A Sri Krishna temple is also located near it. A crocodile Ghat is located here. Adi Sankaracharya took his vows of renunciation at this Ghat.

Malayatoor church



It is a famous church located 47 kms away from Kochi. It is a catholic church perched on the 609 feet high Malayattur hill dedicated to St. Thomas, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ. It is visited by thousands of devotees during the annual festival "Malayaattur Perunnal", which is held in the months of March- April.

Munnikkal Guhalayam :

Munnikkal Guhalayam is perched on the top of a hill. It is believed that it was the residence of sage Jangaman before 2000 years ago. A famous temple of Lord Murugan is located in close proximity.

St. Francis Church, Fort Cochin :

St. Francis Church, the first European Church in India was built by Portuguese in memory of Franciscan Friars in 1503. The protestant Dutch restored it and later it was converted to an Anglican church by the British in 1795. The Portuguese navigator Vaso-Da-Gama was buried here.

The other religious centers located at Ernakulam are Pazhur, Santhanagopala Krishnaswamy Temple and Vamanamoorth Temple.