Cochin Carnival | |
---|---|
Dates | 23 December to 1 January |
Frequency | Annually |
Location(s) | Fort Kochi, Kerala, India |
Years active | 1984–present |
Cochin Carnival is an entertainment event held every year in the last week of December at Fort Kochi in the city of Kochi, Kerala. [1] This event is held mostly during the last two weeks of December and finally ends on 1 January. It is officially inaugurated with hoisting the Indian national flag at the Vasco da Gama Square. [2]
The main highlight of the carnival is the massive procession on the New Year's Day, led by elephants in ornamental trappings. North Indian dances are a part of the procession. It is a combination of different cultures like Portuguese, Gujarati, Punjabi, Malayalee, Kannada, Arab, Dutch, and Anglo Indian culture. [3]
Many competitions like beach bike race, beach football, wrestling, boxing, cycle race, bullet race, kayaking, swimming and marathon races are held. [4] Art shows, food festivals, colourful rallies and fairs add to the festive spirit of the carnival. The main principles promoted during the festival are Participation, Peace, Progress, Adventure and Environment. The city is decorated with white paper buntings, especially the Kochi Fort. The white colour is dominant in all decorations which symbolizes peace and tranquillity. [5]
Kochi Fort is the center of all the activities that take place at the time of the Cochin Carnival. It is promoted by the district tourism promotion council. [6]
In 1984, three youngsters from Cochin - Ananda Felix Scaria (Ananda Surya), George Augustine Thundiparambil (Roy) and Antony Anup Scaria (Anoop) decided to organise a beach festival with a programme at the Fort Kochi beach to celebrate the signing of a UN proclamation mandating 1985 as the International Youth Year. [7] They were supported by 150 youth groups of various clubs and organizations. Some of the other names associated with the first Carnival are Nirmal John Augustine, Radha Gomathi and Abul Kalam Azad (photographer), who later became an active member of the team and has many images from the first carnival, that are being archived by Ekalokam Trust for Photography. [8] [9]
This program started during the second week of December 1984 with a cycle race followed by other local ethnic games like kabaddi, tug of war, kalari, kuttiyum kolum, Kalam Vara (floor drawing) etc. The event ended on 1 January 1985 with a procession with a massive rally including caparisoned elephants accompanied by Panchavadyam, called ‘Carnivale Cochin’. Gradually, it took the form of what is today called the Cochin Carnival. [10]
In Popular Culture
Movie featuring Cochin Carnival
Papanhi is a giant statue of an old man. [11] Papanhi is burned exactly at stroke of midnight signifies the end of a passing year and welcome New Year. This symbolises the burning of all the ills and beginning on a new note. This is followed by gala party with dance and music till morning. The origin of this custom remains ambiguous. [12]
Before this became a part of the Carnival, the local clubs had Papanhi festivities all over the area. It merged with the carnival and the legend too grew. The papanhi resembles Santa Claus. Over a period of time, the effigy of Santa started being burnt, however, was rectified afterwards. [13]
Cochin Carnival is the main part of the plot especially pappanji is referred in climax of 2007 malayalam film Chotta Mumbai and Cochin Carnival is also featured in 2023 Malayalam movie RDX: Robert Dony Xavier
Kochi, also known by its former name Cochin, is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala. The city is also commonly referred to as Ernakulam. As of 2011, the Kochi Municipal Corporation had a population of 677,381 over an area of 94.88 km2, and the larger Kochi urban agglomeration had over 2.1 million inhabitants within an area of 440 km2, making it the largest and the most populous metropolitan area in Kerala. Kochi city is also part of the Greater Cochin development region and is classified as a Tier-II city by the Government of India. The civic body that governs the city is the Kochi Municipal Corporation, which was constituted in the year 1967, and the statutory bodies that oversee its development are the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) and the Goshree Islands Development Authority (GIDA).
Ernakulam is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala, and takes its name from the eponymous city division in Kochi. It is situated in the central part of the state, spans an area of about 2,924 square kilometres (1,129 sq mi), and is home to over 9% of Kerala's population. Its headquarters are located at Kakkanad. The district includes Kochi, also known as the commercial capital of Kerala, which is famous for its ancient churches, Hindu temples, synagogues and mosques.
Model Engineering College or MEC is a government cost-sharing technical institute and research centre in Thrikkakara, Kochi, Kerala, India. It was established by the Institute of Human Resources Development (IHRD), an autonomous agency under the Government of Kerala, in 1989. It is affiliated to the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU) since 2015.
The Paradesi Synagogue aka Cochin Jewish Synagogue or the Mattancherry Synagogue is a synagogue located in Mattancherry Jew Town, a suburb of the city of Kochi, Kerala, in India. It was built in 1568 A.D. by Samuel Castiel, David Belila, and Joseph Levi for the flourishing Paradesi Jewish community in Kochi. Cochin Jews were composed mainly of the much older Malabari Jews and the newly arrived Sephardic refugees from the Portuguese religious persecution of Jews in Spain and Portugal. It is the oldest active synagogue in the Commonwealth of Nations. Paradesi is a word used in several Indian languages, and the literal meaning of the term is "foreigners", applied to the synagogue because it was built by Sephardic or Portuguese-speaking Jews, some of them from families exiled in Aleppo, Safed and other West Asian localities.
Fort Kochi, also known by its former name Fort Cochin is a neighbourhood of Cochin (Kochi) city in Kerala, India. Fort Kochi takes its name from the Fort Manuel of Cochin, the first European fort on Indian soil, controlled by the Portuguese East Indies. This is part of a handful of water-bound islands and islets toward the south-west of the mainland Kochi, and collectively known as Old Cochin or West Cochin. Adjacent to this is the locality of Mattancherry. In 1967, these three municipalities along with a few adjoining areas, were amalgamated to form the Kochi Municipal Corporation.
Cherai is a small town located in north side of Vypin island. It is a region in the suburb of the city of Kochi, in the state of Kerala, India. It is at a distance of about 22.6 km (14.0 mi) from the High Court Junction, Kochi. Cherai has the longest beach in Kochi - the Cherai beach. The beach is located towards the centre-north of the Vypin island.
Ernakulam is the central business district of the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. It is the namesake of Ernakulam district. The eastern part of Kochi city is mainly known as Ernakulam, while the western part of it after the Venduruthy Bridge is called as Western Kochi. Many major establishments, including the Kerala High Court, the office of the Kochi Municipal Corporation and the Cochin Shipyard are situated in Ernakulam. It is also the most urbanized area in the city of Kochi.
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Kerala, called Keralam in Malayalam, is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Canara, and Travancore. Spread over 38,863 km2 (15,005 sq mi), Kerala is the 21st largest Indian state by area. It is bordered by Karnataka to the north and northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Lakshadweep Sea to the west. With 33 million inhabitants as per the 2011 census, Kerala is the 13th-largest Indian state by population. It is divided into 14 districts with the capital being Thiruvananthapuram. Malayalam is the most widely spoken language and is also the official language of the state.
Kochi, formerly known as Cochin, is a city and port in the Indian state of Kerala.
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