Kerala is known as “God’s Own Country,” a reference to its rich natural beauty, enticing backwaters, and wealth of spices that have served as the Holy Grail for centuries of sailor. However, the snappy tourist tagline might also be a homage to the numerous religious traditions that have thrived there for thousands of years, particularly in the port city of Kochi. Kerala’s distinct topography — locked in from the rest of India by the mountains to the east, yet open to the rest of the world by the Arabian Sea to the west — meant the state in southwest India was a cosmopolitan melting pot of many cultures. Long before the Portuguese fumbled their way over (it was Kerala that Columbus was after in 1492 when he found himself in the Bahamas instead) and established the first European settlement in India at Cochin in 1500, kicking off successive waves of colonization by the Portuguese, Dutch, and British, Hindus, Christians, Jews, and Muslims lived side by side and traded with the Arabs and Chinese.

Kochi, as Cochin has been called, is now a popular cruise ship stop and stopover for visitors en way to houseboats cruising through the picturesque backwaters of adjacent Alappuzha. However, its complicated history warrants a lengthier stay.