CHENNAMANGALAM: Kerala State
photo of synagogue and history. "Chennamangalam/Parur: The surveyors were unable to uncover any tombs or markers, though there may be some under heavy growth on the hillside area out from Chennamangalam." [October 2000]
photos and history of synagogue and information including cemetery: "The Pardesi Synagogue in Mattancherry, originally built in 1568, is well documented, well cared for and well visited. We were told by the Indian caretaker that the near-by cemetery was not open to visitors, but a short stroll to Cemetery Road and a smile at its local caretaker enabled us to enter. This relatively unkempt resting place of Cochin's former active Jewish community contains above ground tombs and all inscriptions are in Hebrew. ... back down Jew Street, parallel to the Periyar River, in the opposite direction from the synagogue. We turned a corner, dropped down below a mosque and continued on through a dirt path until finally, in scorching heat, we reached the small Chennamangalam Jewish cemetery. Only one above ground tomb remains visible in this overgrown area next to the Moslem cemetery and beneath a Hindu temple perched precariously on the hill above. " [January 2010]
- This unnamed Jewish cemetery has a tombstone outside the building dated 1269 and says Sarah, daughter of Israel. It is said to have been brought from Kottapuram (now, Shingly) and probably is the oldest Hebrew text in India. Jews moved here from Cranganore in 1524. Source: the British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia (website - July 2008).
- The Jewish cemetery in Chennamangalam situated 10 km from Ernakulam: The outer wall is just a little over a hundred years old, but the cemetery itself is reputedly at least 250 years old. photo. [January 2010]
- [UPDATE] The Cochin Jews of Kerala [December 2016]