Synagogues of India - First Glimpses
The ‘Journeys in Watercolours – Synagogues of India’ artworks were featured at IJAANZ’s inaugural exhibition at the ‘Light after Lockdown’ Hanukkah event organised by the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies (NSW JBD) on 2 December 2021 in Sydney.
Professor Jay A. Waronker’s evocative images of his original watercolours depicting the synagogues of India lined the windows of the hall . The images were received with immense interest and admiration by the approximately 70 people who attended the joint Hanukkah-Diwali celebration.
India’s synagogues date from the mid-sixteenth century and are among the oldest synagogues in the Commonwealth.
Sydney Australia was privileged to get the first glimpses at an exhibition of artworks of the original watercolours by Professor Jay A. Waronker.
Some forty structures constructed as synagogues can be found in India today and vary in design, scale and appointments. These synagogues were built by five distinct communities of Jews – the Bene Israel, Cochini, Baghdadi, B’nei Menashe and Bene Ephraim.
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