Object No. 11: Chinese Fishing Nets

The Chinese fishing nets along the front in Fort Kochi, and scattered throughout the backwaters, must be one of the most photographed objects in the world. They stand for the mystery and history of South India and in addition they are extremely photogenic. It is so easy to catch them with the setting sun behind them and during the day they make a dynamic setting for the working life of the town.
Searching for the definitive photo I am struck by just how many pictures we have of the nets, up, down, against the sky. I think my favourites are the ones of the nets as they exist in the community, on the edge of the backwaters.

The nets probably originated in China, links with the East being well established long before Fort Kochi was established following the earthquake in the 14th Century. The Chinese had come to India in the first Century CE in search of pepper and set up their main trading port in Quillon (Kollam). Supposed to have been brought to India in the 1400s by Chinese traders, the spidery Chinese nets are found only in Cochin and China. They have huge, counterweighted nets strung horizontally under fingers of rough timber. The nets are dipped in to the water and after a time, they are raised to see what they have scooped up. In the backwaters they fish at night, a lantern attached to the top of the gantry attracting the fish. The date of their introduction probably relates to the well-documented voyages of the Chinese Admiral Zheng He, who is thought to have taken his fleet of large ships as far as the coast of Africa.

The earliest contacts with the far East were probably along the silk routes, entering India to both the East and West of the Himalayas. This is the way that Buddhism would have made its journey across the continents. Maritime trade quickly followed, and it is likely that ships were following the coastal routes to the North-Eastern Ports by the 7th Century CE. Exactly when this trade reached Kerala is unknown.

Today the nets in Fort Kochi have been restored and are now working hard for the tourist trade. They rarely catch fish, but one can usually be fished out of a bucket for a photograph to add to the obligatory tip.

Object No. 10: the black Buddha of Kuttenad

Evidence of the long trek the first followers of the Buddha took from the North to the South of India and on to Sri Lanka is scarce. The Jain religion spread Southwards at about the same time, and although both of these religions were severely repressed by the Brahmins from about the 12th Century CE, there are complete Jain temples remaining, especially to the North in Wayanad. From about 600 CE there were likely to have been many of the Buddhist faith in Kerala, but these are represented now by a very few statues which have survived against all of the odds.

My favourite is the black statue which sits in a very unremarkable stupa in a field on a backwater between Alleppey and Kollam, deep into the Kuttenad region. It has lost some of its torso and one arm, its features are crumbled, but still serene and its legs are very small. (One of the effects of my computer crash has been the temporary loss of thousands of photos, and I can't find my pictures of this isolated, but moving, statue, so I have stolen a couple.)

https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/398850110720541273/

The statue probably dates from the 9th Century, and when we visited it sat forlornly in a very plain, concrete structure, open to the elements and half-buried in the field. It did have offerings and incense burning near it, and had been anointed with turmeric for good fortune by the local villagers. The locals believe that the statue lost its arm when it was trampled by an elephant. The stupa in the picture above was donated by the Dalai Lhama.
These relics of the old faith are unsung across the South. We stumbled across another in the Krishnapuram Palace, about 40 miles South of Alleppey. This palace houses an interesting museum and the larger 10th Century statue is housed in a peaceful garden. It is one of four dug out of wells and tanks in the area and they are still coming to light.
Another sits at Buddha Junction in a grubby shrine, still visited daily by a lone resident.

http://www.alappuzhaonline.com/buddhajunctionmavelikara.htm

Those with a keen eye will see other images which might, or might not, be the Buddha in shrines and temples in the area, integrated into the Hindu pantheon, lacking the necessary serenity but relics of the long, historical journeys of faith taken by the people of South India.