IN 2021, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, a group of men in masks fished out centuries-old artefact from the northernmost beachside of Fort Kochi at a depth of less than one metre. These intricately carved rock pieces were recovered during dredging for the water metro project near the iconic Chinese fishing nets. The retrieval team relocated the artefact to the garden of Bastion Bungalow, a Dutch-built structure that dates back to 1667, which now serves as District Heritage Museum.
Questions arose about the origin of these architectural rock pieces and their connection to Fort Kochi’s past. While the area is known for its European colonial history, beginning with the Portuguese, some speculated about a pre-colonial link. Eventually, a scientific team arrived to study the stones. Led by Ratheesh Kumar R.T. from the department of marine geology and geophysics at the School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, the researchers conducted a detailed analysis. Using architectural, typological, petrographical, mineralogical and geochemical analyses, they established that these artefact were connected to the Portuguese period. However, their findings also inadvertently showed links to a missing Buddha from Kochi’s pre-colonial history.
Facts from artefact
In January 2025, the study by Kumar and his team was published in Geoheritage. They found that the artefact consisted of two different rock varieties—light-coloured granite and dark-coloured gabbro.
Notably, these artefact bore similarities to two monumental lithic (stone) pillars—one on the Fort Kochi beachside and the other within the premises of the present-day Santa Cruz Basilica, consecrated in 1905 on the same site where a church dedicated to St Francis Xavier stood from 1848 to 1895. These pillars, exhibiting Gothic and Indo-European architectural styles, bear inscriptions stating they were “erected on 17 October 1890 by J.E. Winckler, Port Officer”.
On investigation, it was discovered that Winckler, a British officer, reconstructed these pillars using artefact he had excavated from a nearshore underwater site in Fort Kochi. The research team concluded that this site is likely the same location where the current artefact were unearthed. The architectural design, pattern and ornamentation of the pillars’ base, capital (topmost part) and hexagonal shaft blocks closely resemble those of the newly found artefact. The team observed that these lithic artefact had a striking resemblance to the Gothic or Manueline style of architecture, prominently seen in colonial-period Portuguese monuments worldwide. The team concluded that these artefact were remnants of a destroyed Portuguese church near the beach.
By comparing Portuguese-era maps of Fort Kochi with current Google Earth images, the researchers identified an erstwhile church at the artefact discovery site. According to Kochi historian and calligrapher Thoufeek Zakriya, this site corresponds to the location of the original Santa Cruz Church, one of the earliest churches made by any colonial power in India. This Portuguese church was built in 1505 and was made a cathedral in 1557. In 1663, when the Dutch annexed Fort Kochi, they destroyed most Portuguese structures, but repurposed this church as an arms storehouse. In the early 1800s, when the British expelled the Dutch, half the church was destroyed in a cannon attack. A century later, the new Santa Cruz Cathedral, which later became a Basilica, was built at a different location. In an article published in 1904 in Indian Engineering, it is mentioned that though the British demolished most of the original Santa Cruz church (which existed near the water metro site), the tower of the church remained till the middle of the 19th century as a flagstaff; it, too, was later demolished. A few photographs and watercolour paintings from the 1800s of this tower are still available.
Portuguese missionaries established the first mission in India in Fort Kochi in 1500. Santa Cruz Church and St Bartholomew church, which later became St Francis Church, were the earliest churches built by them, with permission from the Cochin Rajah. The Rajah allowed churches to be built using stones and mortar, which was unheard of then as only a royal palace or a temple could be built using those materials.
A key question before Kumar’s team was whether the rock artefact of the demolished church were imported or excavated locally. To determine the geological origins of the artefact, the research team conducted a geochemical analysis of rock samples. As per their findings, the rocks did not originate from Portugal, neither did they come from anywhere near Kochi. By comparing the data with published studies on granites and gabbros from different tectonic blocks in southern India, they found similarities with Munnar granites and Theni-Rajapalayam gabbros.
Another crucial observation was that several of the stone artefact resembling pillar bases had prominent lotus petal-shaped moulds on all four sides. “While the hexagonal geometries and other elements predominantly align with the Portuguese Manueline style, the lotus petal motif suggests an Indian influence. It is plausible that local artisans in Kochi incorporated this design, indicating a fusion of Portuguese and south Indian, particularly Kerala, architectural styles,” says Kumar, whose study suggests that historical records of Portuguese trade routes may provide insights into how these rocks were transported to Fort Kochi.
However, historians like Zakriya interpret these clues differently—particularly the presence of the lotus, a significant symbol of spiritual awakening in Buddhism. He proposes that the Portuguese may have repurposed stones from a pre-colonial Buddhist vihara (monastery) that was later demolished.
Missing church to missing Buddha
“At least since 2013, I am behind this Buddha of Kochi,” says Zakriya, a polyglot who has played a role in unearthing many major historical artefact, especially those related to Kochi’s multicultural history. His primary reference behind his theory connecting the unearthed artefact with the missing Buddha is History of Fort Cochin by the late K.L. Bernard, a respected local historian who has lanes named after him in Fort Kochi. Bernard claims in his book that the Cochin Rajah had trade relations with the Chinese, who were Buddhists, and that he allowed them to build a vihara near the coast. Bernard stated the vihara was built where the Laurel Club, a recreation club set up in 1949 by Fort Kochi’s elite, now stands. This location is next to the Water Metro terminal. “Huge granite pillars with lotus capitals and octagonal pedestals were used in the construction of the vihara, in which a marble statue of the Buddha was placed,” notes Bernard. He, however, does not back this claim with references in his book.
The earliest documented references to Kochi occur in books written by Chinese Muslim voyager Ma Huan. He came to Kochi in 1409 accompanying the great Admiral Zheng He, the Ming dynasty diplomat who made seven expeditions to the Western Oceans. Ma Huan was well-versed in Classical Chinese and Buddhist texts. He, however, does not talk about the Chinese building any viharas in Kochi, nor does he mention any Chinese influence on Kochi’s Buddha. Instead, he observes that the local ruler, who belonged to the solar race, prostrated himself before the Buddha. And, Ma Huan also calls the ruler a “sincere believer in Buddhism”. There is a possibility that a Chinese settlement was already in place when Zheng He’s crew arrived in Kochi and that the king was tolerant of their beliefs.
However, Zakriya suggests that Kochi’s vihara and the Buddha may have existed even before the arrival of the Chinese. He argues the vihara had the patronage of the royal family of Edapally—once known as Madhyaviharam and believed to have been a Buddhist centre—before the region came under Perumpadappu Swaroopam (kingdom of Cochin). According to Bernard, after the Chinese departed, the vihara was converted into a temple, and the Buddha statue was buried in the sea near the temple. Bernard states that 500 years later, the statue was recovered by the dredger Lord Willingdon, named after the British viceroy in the 1930s.
Born in 1902, Bernard includes eyewitness accounts in his book, mentioning that a harbour executive engineer named Milne kept the statue in his bungalow before taking it home to Britain after retirement.
“Bernard was referring to A.G. Milne, who was honoured with the CIE (Companion of the Indian Empire), an award established in 1878 to recognise the service of officers in British India,” says Zakriya. A lane in Fort Kochi bears Milne’s name for his crucial role in laying the groundwork for the city’s infrastructure, he adds.
The CIE honour became Zakriya’s biggest clue in narrowing down Milne’s whereabouts. “I first figured out that Milne was Scottish. Then, I conducted an intensive search based on cemeteries in Scotland,” he says. “Fortunately, I found his tombstone in Aberdeenshire, where CIE was inscribed alongside his name,” says Zakriya.
Milne died on October 16, 1981, at the Morningfield Hospital at 59 King’s Gate, Aberdeen. Zakriya discovered that Milne, before his death, had been living at 11 Grey Street, Aberdeen. He then tried to find any living relatives of Milne. “I sent messages via social media to hundreds of people with the surname Milne, hoping for a breakthrough, but none were fruitful,” he says. “Then, in 2020, I finally made a breakthrough.”
That was when Lieutenant General Sir Simon Vincent Mayall, a decorated British Army officer, published Soldier in the Sand: A Personal History of the Modern Middle East. While the book primarily focuses on Mayall’s experiences in the Middle East, it also touches on his family history, including memories of his maternal grandfather, A.G. Milne.
Mayall reveals that his mother, Alexis Leanora Milne, was conceived in Cochin. He also notes that Milne was awarded the CIE for his contributions to the Imperial war effort and received letters of congratulations from Viceroy Lord Wavell, Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck, and Lord Mountbatten, the incoming viceroy. The family has preserved these letters to this day.
Zakriya reached out to Mayall, hoping to uncover clues about the Buddha statue his grandfather had taken home as a memoir of Kochi, believing its design and architecture could reveal much about Kochi’s pre-colonial past. “But he could not give a definitive answer about where that Buddha might be,” says Zakriya, who hopes there will be more research on this. “For 500 years, Kochi’s Buddha lay in jala samadhi, cradled by the sea. And now, when I picture it, I see it sitting somewhere—silent, serene and dusted with snow.”