Paradesi Synagogue

The Paradesi Synagogue is the oldest active synagogue in the Commonwealth of Nations, located in Kochi, Kerala, in South India. It was built in 1568 by the Malabar Yehudan people or Cochin Jewish community in the Kingdom of Cochin. 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 historically used by "White Jews", a mixture of Jews from Cranganore, the Middle East, and European exiles. It is also referred to as the Cochin Jewish Synagogue or the Mattancherry Synagogue. The synagogue is located in the quarter of Old Cochin known as Jew Town, and is the only one of the seven synagogues in the area still in use. The complex has four buildings. It was built adjacent to the Mattancherry Palace temple on the land gifted to the Malabari Yehuden community by the Raja of Kochi, Rama Varma. The Mattancherry Palace temple and the Mattancherry synagogue share a common wall.

The fact that an oft-persecuted community like the Jews could find peaceful asylum in India symbolises the secular character of our State where all communities can flourish regardless of colour, creed or race. 

The P & T Department was happy to associate itself with the four-hundredth anniversary celebrations of the Cochin Synagogue by issuing a commemorative postage stamp on the occasion. The design of the stamp is vertical and depicts inner view of a synagogue - a worship place of Jewis People.