Inside Fort Kochi lies Odatha, a historical botanical garden that was the starting point of Hortus Malabaricus. Then there is a vintage era map that documents movements of tides in the harbour way back in 1913. Fascinating nuggets of information like this about the historic port town can now be accessed via a smart interactive online cultural map www.culturalmapping.in/fortkochi by Sahapedia.
Collaboration between Sahapedia and the Kochi Biennale Foundation, it details over 150 sites and practices within Fort Kochi and Mattancherry.
"Fort Kochi represents history in the broadest and widest sense. It has layers of historical and cultural connections and we thought it is one of the best venues to begin the cultural map project, something which has not been attempted so far anywhere in India. It is a momentous occasion for us," said Dr Sudha Gopalakrishnan, Executive Director, Sahapedia.The team had earlier documented the Rashtrapathi Bhavan.
Neha Paliwal, Director, Projects, Sahapedia, who managed the project over a period of three to four months says, "The first time I came to Fort Kochi, I heard people speaking in over 5 languages in less than 1 hour. We have compiled an easy to explore list of historic buildings, festivals, markets, places of worship, theatres, and vintage maps besides memories and thoughts of famous personalities living here."
Bonny Thomas, trustee of the Kochi Biennale Foundation has played an active role in helping put together the cultural map.
"Over 16 languages in Kochi apart from Malayalam are spoken by over 30 migrant communities who have been living here for many centuries," said Thomas.
The mapping project is designed to evolve over time with future options including accessibility in other Indian languages, including Malayalam besides introducing a search option for navigation.
