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Bakel Fort
History sleeps here among the lonely battlements of the Bekal Fort, by the sea shore. Bekal fort, the largest and the best-preserved fort in Kerala, lies 16 Kms south of Kasaragod on the national highway at the northern tip of the state. The fort, a circular imposing structure of laterite rising 130 ft. above sea level, stands on a 35 acre headland that runs into the Arabian sea.
His fort is more than 300 years old and is believed to have been built in the 1650's by Sivappa Naik of the Ikkeri dynasty. There is also another belief that it was originally built by Kolathiri Rajas and later captured by Sivappa Naik. The fort was occupied by Hyder Ali of Mysore in 1763 A.D and then the Huzur of Canara during Tipu Sultan's reign and later by the British. During the British rule, the erstwhile Bekal taluk was part of South Canara district and encompassed the present Kasaragod and Hosdurg taluks.
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Location: About a kilometre from Bekal Fort, about 16 km south of Kasaragod on the national highway, Kasaragod district, north Kerala. Kasaragod, the northernmost 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 at the beach and a shed with walls 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.
Walk way: A beautiful walk way has been laid for the visiting tourists to explore the beauty of the fine coastline and enjoy the panoramic view of the Bekal Fort.
Illuminating the beach: The beach has been 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 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 site 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.
Nearest railway station: Kasaragod, on the Kozhikode-Mangalore-Mumbai route.
Nearest airport: Mangalore about 50 km from Kasaragod town; Karipur International Airport, Kozhikode, about 200 km from Kasaragod town. |
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