Cheraman Perumal, the then king of Kerala, in Kodungallur, abdicated his throne and built an “Uru” or “dhow”, a country boat to reach Mecca way back in the 6th century and embraced Islam. Visit Beypore and you can see the Khalasis, the traditional ship builders engaged in making Urus even today. Khalasi itself is an Arabic word meaning khalas, released as in released into the water. The “Uru” once used by Arabs for trading spice between Malabar and Arabia is a tourist craft now.
The “Uru” was created by hand by the khalasis using neither machine tools nor instruments nor design charts but from memory and mental mathematical calculations using traditional stanzas, each of which described a part of the ship. It was built from Malabar teak that floated down the Chaliyar river. To get the same teak today, you’ll have to visit Malaysia!
Reaching There
· Take the KSRTC bus from Kozhikode bus station to Beypore. It’s 30 minutes away, around 11 km.
· Catch the train to Feroke and take an auto to Beypore, about 15 minutes away.
The “Uru” was created by hand by the khalasis using neither machine tools nor instruments nor design charts but from memory and mental mathematical calculations using traditional stanzas, each of which described a part of the ship. It was built from Malabar teak that floated down the Chaliyar river. To get the same teak today, you’ll have to visit Malaysia!
Reaching There
· Take the KSRTC bus from Kozhikode bus station to Beypore. It’s 30 minutes away, around 11 km.
· Catch the train to Feroke and take an auto to Beypore, about 15 minutes away.
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