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. Pulimuttu is the local name of the 1 km long bridge made of stone stretching in to sea. It is made by piling stones like a pathway to sea. It is a perfect place to watch the Bottlenose Dolphin. During the flood time Pinniped also visible in the nearby chaliyar river.
Beypore light house is situated at the south bank of chaliyar, Uru (Big boat) - The boat building yard here is famous for the construction of the Uru, the traditional Arabian trading vessel. Its build using teak from Malaysia nowadays, but before it was using indigenous teak from Nilambure forest which was transported through water channels (called 'therppan').
Food stalls offering Kerala Cuisines - Famous for traditional Muslim food items, mainly sea food items (crab, prawns, lobster and shell creature called - kallummukkaya). 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.
Kovalam Beach an internationally renowned beach with three adjacent crescent beaches.It has been a favourite haunt of tourists,especially Europeans,since the 1930s.
