Beypore is located about 10 kms south of
Kozhikode town at the mouth of the Chaliyar River. Historically,
it has a special place as being one of the prominent ports and fishing
harbours, and was also an important trade and maritime centre during the
days of the early Arab and Chinese travelers and later the Europeans. Soon
after gaining prominence as a port and trade centre, Beypore slowly began to
flourish as a centre for shipbuilding, since ships were 0in great demand merchants from Western Asia. The
shipbuilding yard at Beypore is famous
for its traditional construction of the Uru or the Arabian trading vessel.
This tradition of shipbuilding is nearly 1,500 years old, and the
craftsmanship of the workers here is exceptional.
Traditionally, Arabs constitute the major chunk of buyers. They place orders
with their specifications and needs.
Unlike modern day shipbuilding
involving the development of blueprint and machinery to facilitate
manufacturing of ships, here, at Beypore everything is conceived in the
minds of the shipwrights, who as a team execute the highly intricate woodwork to
perfection. It is an amazing aspect if one is to observe the manner in which
the Uru takes shape with minimum sophistication in production. The entire
team observes certain work ethics, of which discipline is the foremost. A
visit to this historic place is a must in order to have a close look at some
of the deft fingers and alert minds, measuring and fixing different parts of
the ship to perfection.
Nearby attractions in Beypore
include the fishing harbour, hardly a kilometer from the shipbuilding yard
and Kadalundi Bird Sanctuary, which is about 7 kms from Beypore. The
Kadalundi estuary is considered as a birdwatchers, paradise, due to the
variety of local as well as migratory bird life. Migratory birds flock here
in large numbers during
February-March.
The sanctuary is
spread over a group of islands in a scenic area surrounded by hillocks where
the Kadalundi River flows into the Arabian Sea. The place is locally known
as Kadalundi Nagaram.
Getting
there:
Nearest Railway Station: about 10 kms from
Kozhikode town.
Nearest Airport: Karipur International
Airport, about 23 kms from Kozhikode town.
Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala
Park View, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India - 695 033
Phone: +91-471-2321132 Fax: +91-471-2322279 Tourist Information toll
free No:1-800-425-4747
Email: info@keralatourism.org , deptour@keralatourism.org
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