Multifaith Culture in India: An Exploration of Jewish Kochi with Dr. Anil Antony
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The south Indian city of Kochi, in the state of Kerala, is home to a neighborhood called Jew Town and India’s oldest synagogue. This conversation will explore both these locations in the context of the region’s long, progressive, and multifaith history.
Kerala is a narrow strip of land on the southwestern coast of India and a state that is home to more than 35 million people. We’ll learn that Kerala’s population is the most religiously and culturally diverse of any state in India, with large numbers of Hindus, Muslims, and Christians living under an elected Communist government. We’ll discuss Kerala’s economic standing as India’s most educated and affluent state. This seminar explores how the acceptance and success of the Jews of Kerala fit into a larger historical narrative of local openness and acceptance of religious and cultural diversity. We will consider the history of the regional Hindu, Muslim and Christian populations, and how their openness to each other was challenged by and survived their interaction with the European West.
Led by a native Keralite, Dr. Anil Noronha Antony, this interactive seminar will provide an introduction to the region’s unique multifaith history. Designed to inform curiosity as well as future travels, participants will come away with an increased appreciation of the cultural diversity of India. Dr. Antony is assisted in this seminar by John Bright, who has participated in interfaith dialogue programs with the State Department, the American Jewish Committee, and some of the most historic churches in the US.
Dr. Anil “Noro” Noronha Antony is an assistant director of the American Association for Cancer Research, the world’s oldest and largest private cancer research organization. He holds a Ph.D. in Cell and Developmental biology and a lifelong interest in the history and culture of south India. Born in the Muslim-majority United Arab Emirates to an Anglo-Indian Catholic family and trained by a Hindu tantric in Kerala, he has direct experience of all three major Keralite religious traditions.
This conversation is suitable for all ages
90 minutes, including a 30 minute Q&A.