THRISSUR: The ancient Jewish cemetery in Mala is lying unattended for the last several years. The responsibility to conserve the cemetery rests with the Mala grama panchayat according to a deal signed between the panchayat and the land owners in 1955. Ernakulathukaran Avarony, Pallivathukkal Eliacha and Chennamangalathukaran Elliabai, the three trustees of the cemetery, handed over the ownership of the land to Athapilly Joseph who represented the Mala grama panchayat on condition of protecting the cemetery. But he failed to keep his word.Earlier, the cemetery remained spread across four acres of land. But a portion of it has been converted into a stadium.Only three tombs are now visible in the graveyard, with one carrying a plaque with Hebrew letters on it.
The cemetery is a landmark of the Jewish history in Kerala. The stonewall constructed around the cemetery is gradually crashing down. The local people, who are unaware of the importance of this ancient historically important site, are using the ground for dumping waste. "There are limitations to the conservation measures being taken up by the panchayat. If it is brought under the Muziris Heritage Project, then there will not be any problem with the conservation measures," ward member Joshy Kanjuthara said.Kodungallur, once known as Muziris, used to have trade contacts with Rome, Greece, China and Persia. Muziris had a flourishing port. Cargo vessels used to drop anchor at the port.
The Muziris project is aiming at heritage conservation. All identified monuments were proposed to be preserved under the project by integrating them to the cultural tourism map of Kerala.The Jewish cemetery was caught in legal tangles as the Ernakulam Jewish community had approached the court demanding adequate protection of the graveyard when the community found that the panchayat was not taking proper steps for its maintenance.
The cemetery issue had come up in the Kerala Assembly in 1996 when T M Jacob, the then Cultural Affairs Minister, replied to a submission by Lonappan Nambadan over the destruction of the stonewall around the graveyard.
The minister said the wall had suffered damage as it had been constructed long ago. But no renovation work was done.
In 1995, the Archeological Survey of India's Thiruvananthapuram branch deputy superintendent K K Ramamurthi had stressed the need for conserving the Jewish remnants in Mala. But there was no initiative on the part of the Archeological Survey of India to protect it. Mala is also home to a Synagogue and other historically important milestones in the history of Kerala.
There were around 40 Jewish families in Mala. But all of them left for Israel in 1948. The post office in Mala is functioning from a Jewish house. In ancient days, the people used the waterways for their journeys as there were not many roads.
Mala Kadavu, which was being used by the people, including businessmen, to come to Mala for trading and establishing their own institutions, had been used to transport goods such as pepper, coconut, arecanut, leather, teakwood, beetle leaves etc to Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Muziris. Boat service was available till 1958.
Mala is the abode of Muhammadiya Juma Masjid, a famous pilgrim centre, which was built in AD 640.
''Synagogue, cemetery, Muhammadiya Juma Masjid, Mala Kadavu and Mala Chal will be brought under the Muziris Heritage Project. We will discuss the issue at a Cabinet subcommittee meeting which will be convened soon,''
Kodungallur MLA T N Prathapan has said.