Bekal Beach - It Has Laid Beautiful Walkway To Enjoy The Panoramic View

Bekal Beach

Kasaragod, the Northern most district of Kerala is renowned as the land of gods, forts, rivers, hills and beautiful beaches. The imposing fort at Bekal is one of the largest and best-preserved forts in Kerala. The beautiful expanse of the shallow beach near the Bekal fort, known as Bekal Fort Beach has been developed as an exotic beach location by the Bekal Resorts Development Corporation (BRDC).

Beautification of the site includes installation of two sculptures of Theyyam created using laterite on the beach and a shed the walls of which are adorned with murals created by artisans from Nilambur. Apart, from these a rock garden at the parking area has been developed where laterite boulders of various sizes have been utilised. Under the social forestry scheme, trees have been planted in the beach area.

Parking facilities: The BRDC has developed about 7000 sq. m of land for parking different types of vehicles.

Walkway: A beautiful walkway has been laid for the visiting tourists to explore the beauty of the fine coastline and enjoy the panoramic view of the Bekal Fort.

Illuminated beach: The beach gets illuminated during the evening hours so that tourists can spend more time at the beach even after the sun sets.

Resting facilities: Multi shed and Eru madam (Tree house) would provide the tourists enough facilities to take rest and enjoy the sea breeze. By using locally available materials seating arrangements have been provided for the tourists at the beach.

Toilets: Toilets have been provided for the use of tourists and eco-friendly bamboo waste bins have been provided in the entire beach site for keeping the area clean.

Children's park: A park has been developed here for children below 14 years.

In order to maintain the developed site a nominal charge of one rupee from each visitor would be collected as entry fees. A similar nominal vehicle parking fees would also be collected. The BRDC also aims to develop in future another 11 acres of land at the beach for constructing water park, theme park etc.

The BRDC was set up by the Government of Kerala to develop Bekal as a planned eco-friendly destination. The BRDC has utilised 19 acres of land for the development of the Bekal Fort Beach at a cost of approximately Rs. 25 million including land acquisition charges. 

Visiting hours: 0800 - 1730 hrs

Contact details: 

Bekal Resorts Development Corporation Limited (BRDC)

KVS Hyper Market Building, 

Pallakunnu, Bekal P.O.

Kasaragod - 671 318

Telefax: +91 467 2236580 

Email: brdcltd@bsnl.in  

Nearest railway station: Kasaragod, on the Kozhikode-Mangalore-Mumbai route.  

Nearest airport: Mangalore, about 50 km from Kasaragod town; Calicut International Airport, Kozhikode, about 200 km from Kasaragod town.

Source : Kerala Tourism

Bekal Fort – It Is An Attractive Global Tourist Spot

BEKAL FORT

AT

KASARAGOD

Bekal Fort is situated in Kasorgod district of Kerala State of India.Bekal Fort is spread over 40 acres (160,000 m2). Some important features of this fort are the water-tank with its flight of steps, the tunnel opening towards the south, the magazine for keeping ammunition and the broad and wide steps leading to the Observation Tower which is a rarity.

From there one has ample view of towns in the vicinity like Kanhangad, Pallikare, Bekal, Kottikkulam, Uduma etc. This observation center had strategic significance in discovering even the smallest movements of the enemy and ascertaining safety of the Fort.

The Fort appears to have been built up from the sea since almost three fourth of its exteriors is drenched and the waves continually stroke the citadel. The Mukhyaprana Temple of Hanuman and the ancient Muslim Mosque nearby bear testimony to the age-old religious harmony that prevailed in the area. The zigzag entrance and the moats around the fort show the defense strategy inherent in the fort.

It is believed that the Bekal fort might have existed even from early days of the Chirakkal Rajas for the fact that it was common in those days to build a fort for the purpose of defense. Many of the old royal palaces have forts to protect them from the enemies.

Decribing the Kolathiri Kingdom in his Kerala History, K.P. Padmanabha Menon writes that the residence allotted to the Thekkelamkur: "The eldest of the male members reigned as sovereign Kolathiri. The next in succession, the heir apparent, was the Thekkelamkur.

The residence assigned to him was the Vadakara fort. The third in succession was the Vadakkelamkur in charge of Vekkolath fort. This V (B) ekkolath fort is identified by some scholars as the present Bekal.

For the British also Bekal Fort was significant for their military and administrative ventures. During the reign of the Company Bekal became the headquarters of the newly organized Bekal Taluk of South Canara District in Bombay presidency. South Canara became a part of the Madras presidency in 1862 and Bekal Taluk was renamed Kasargod Taluk. Slowly the political and economic magnitude of Bekal and its port declined considerably. With the state reorganization in 1956 Kasargod became part of Kerala.

Today, the Bekal fort and its surroundings are fast becoming an international tourist destination and a favourite shooting locale for film and ad makers. Bekal is also one of the five centres selected by the Government of India to be developed into a 'Special Tourism Area'.