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 its prominence as a port and trade
centre, Beypore slowly began to flourish as a centre for
shipbuilding, which was in great demand by merchants from
Western Asia. The boat-building 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 blue print and machinery to facilitate manufacturing
of ships, here, at Beypore everything is conceived in the
minds of the workers, 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.
