FORGET Goa, have your next holiday in Cochin. Stay at the Taj Malabar on Willingdon Island, it actually sits on an island in the estuary, close to the mouth of the river and the sea, its entrance filtered by large Chinese fishing nets that are not just souvenir pieces, like everything else in Kerala, they are put to work.

Book a corner room, look at the islands in the sun, each in its own canopy of palm trees, the dolphins popping their heads out of the waters, watch the Dutch port town of Mattancherry across the channel, houses with slated roofs huddled together like in a Flemish painting, see the boats sailing into the harbour, past the Chinese fishing nets, all kinds of boats, fishing trawlers, narrow row boats with a single man with hands like dark knotted ropes, boats with one square patched-up sail, ocean liners, service boats, water boats, rice boats, foreign schooners, the ferries from Ernakulam to Fort Cochin, like suburban trains, and probably more efficient than suburban trains.

Go shopping for mud pots and wooden spoons in Cochin�s market places, to cook rice and fish in, and for spices at the Dutch spice market, and for Kerala mundus at the Malabar Lungi Emporium. Visit the old synagogue in a street lined with Jewish houses, a church where Vasco Da Gama was buried before his body was taken back to Portugal, and Ernakulam across the harbour, a busy Kerala city.

Have toddy on the islands in a small toddy shop with long benches and a table, treading your way carefully through the extremely bony but tasty backwater fish, the Karimeen, done in a puree of red chillis, cooked in leaves, and served with aapam. Climb the lofty heights of the lighthouse on Vypeen Island, stand on its gallery, 46 metres high and 255 steps up a spiral staircase, and watch the south-west monsoon enter Kerala from across the Palk Straits, thick, sullen black clouds that roll majestically over the islands of Cochin and its harbour.

Explore the narrow twisting lanes of Jew Town with its spice shops and antique stores selling curios, buy a garland of spice sachets, visit the world-famous synagogue and get the last surviving Jew there to narrate its history to you, and then on your way out read the Jewish name-plates on the doors of the old Dutch houses, Solomon, Hallegua, Isidore, Cohen, none of whom live there anymore. Cochin is actually the commercial capital of Kerala and its most captivating city. It is an excellent blend of traditions and modernity and is a perfect reflection of the cosmopolitan society of Kerala. Known as the Queen of the Arabian Sea, Cochin came into being as a result of the merger of the then neighbouring towns and villages of Ernakulam, Old Cochin, Mattancherry, Fort Cochin, Palluruthy and Thoppumpady, Willingdon Island, the suburbs of Edapally and the exurbia of Kalamassery, Thrikkakara and Kakkanad to the northeast and Tripunithura to the southeast.

The action, however, revolves around Fort Cochin, Mattancherry, Vypeen Island, Willingdon Island and Ernakulam. Altogether, they make Cochin one of the most spectacular cities in the country, brimming with history, legends and natural beauty. The Arabs, Chinese, Dutch, British and Portuguese have had trade relations with Cochin, and the prosperity of the city can be judged by the remark of the famous Italian traveller Nicolas Conti, who wrote, �If China is where you make your money, then Cochin is surely the place to spend it.�

The Jewish Town apart, traces of the Portuguese, Dutch and Chinese influences on Cochin still linger. In Mattancherry itself stands a 1555 A.D. structure that goes by the name of Dutch Palace today. History has it that this was built by the Portuguese and presented to the Cochin Maharaja. It acquired the present name after 1663, when the Dutch carried out some extensive repairs in the palace. The central hall of the sprawling yellow-coloured building was the coronation hall of the Cochin maharajas, the Varma family. The adjacent rooms contain 17th and 18th century murals depicting scenes from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Puranas. The Dutch Palace is a heritage structure protected by the Archaeological Society of India.

Another royal structure credited to the Dutch is the Bolgatty Palace on Bolgatty Island. Narrow and long, the island is 15 acres of lush green land on which stands the palace that was built by the Dutch in 1744. It was said to be the seat of the British empire in Cochin. Today the Bolgatty Palace is a hotel for the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation Ltd. (KTDC) if you please. And, in Fort Cochin, another town in the old city, forlornly stands the Church of St. Francis. It is a Protestant church built by the Portuguese in 1503 A.D. Kerala�s history records it as a reminder of Christianity�s venture into Indian shores. Which should make it the first church to be built by the Europeans in India. Vasco Da Gama, who discovered the sea route to India, and landed in Calicut, died in Cochin. Originally, he was buried in the St. Francis Church. Fourteen years later, his coffin was shifted to Lisbon in Portugal. In the Cochin church, a tombstone and grave marks out the space where he was buried. It is of great interest to tourists. And, very strangely for a Christian place of worship, you have to remove your footwear before entering the church.

You must also see Pierce Leslie�s Bungalow and Koder House, both magnificent structures and examples of transition from colonial to Indo-European architecture. And Loafer�s Corner, the traditional meeting place of the fun-loving locals, with a fine view of Princess Street, one of Fort Cochin�s earliest streets still dotted with grand European-style residences, old world charm and glory. Brunton Boatyard in Fort Cochin, is a destination back in time, it is a distillery of history now converted into a hotel by the Casino Group. The Conde Nast Traveller says, �It has a great location, oodles of charm, a display of antiquities that will make you want to rush down to Fort Cochin�s furniture shops immediately, and possibly the best positioned baths in India.� Go also and visit the Chinese fishing nets that have been in Cochin since the time they were introduced her by traders from the court of Kublai Khan. And, end your visit to Cochin by taking a cruise along Kerala�s famous backwaters.

The KTDC will organise this for you. A coach takes the Thripunetra Road from Ernakulam to Kottayam, carefully threading its way through the red Kerala State Transport buses and autorickshaws, going along little bylanes in residential areas, down P. T. Usha Road and past the Malayala Manorama office, past strange looking Syrian churches with names like Little Flower Church, Jerusalem Mar Thoma Church, Our Lady of Mercy, Church of Jesus and Latter Day Saints outside which bearded priests stand under umbrellas, past bakeries puffing out aromatic and delicious smoke, and little Malayali restaurants saying �Meals are Ready�, along the highway, over picturesque bridges beneath which canals flow, till you reach Alappuzha.