It was built in 1568 A.D. by Samuel Castiel, David Belila, and Joseph Levi for the flourishing Paradesi Jewish community in Kochi.

[3] Paradesi is a word used in several Indian languages, and the literal meaning of the term is "foreigners", applied to the synagogue because it was built by Sephardic or Portuguese-speaking Jews, some of them from families exiled in Aleppo, Safed and other West Asian localities.

It was built adjacent to the Mattancherry Palace temple on the land given to the community by the Raja of Kochi, Rama Varma.

The first synagogue in India was built in the 4th century in Kodungallur (Cranganore) when the Jews had a mercantile role in the South Indian region (now called Kerala) along the Malabar coast.

The second, built under the protection of the Raja, in Mattancherry, in 1558, during the Portuguese rule of Cochin, is the present synagogue,[4] which is still in use for worship and can attract a minyan.

They and the Malabari Jews or Yehudan Mappila shared many aspects of their religion, and the newcomers learned the Judeo-Malayalam dialect, but the Sephardim also retained their own culture and Spanish language at least for three centuries.

Currently it is head by one of the most senior Jews in Kerala, Mr. John Jacob who lives in Kaviyoor village, Thiruvalla.

The Paradesi Synagogue has the Scrolls of the Law, several gold crowns received as gifts, many Belgian glass chandeliers, and a brass-railed pulpit.

[7] The synagogue has an 18th-century clock tower, which, along with other parts of the complex, was restored between 1998 and 1999 by the architect Karl Damschen under the direction of the World Monuments Fund.