The Land Of Legends

The little-known coastal town of Kannur is home to intriguing history, mystical dance forms, and delectable food.

- Sugato Tripathy

WAITING TO BUY a ticket at Muzhappilangad Beach— the longest drive-in beach in Asia, located in Kannur, a little-known coastal city in Kerala—I felt like a child impatient for his turn on the carousel. The ocean roared in front of me and car tyres ripped the sand, leaving furrows for the sea to fill. This impressive 5.5-kilometer stretch of sand, with the majestic Arabian Sea on one side, offers a picturesque ride. I gleefully manoeuvred the car to the rhythm of the incoming waves, occasionally glancing in the side mirror to catch the receding waves.

Formerly called Cannanore, Kannur was once a bustling port for British, Portuguese, and Dutch traders. One of the earliest Portuguese settlements on the Malabar Coast, St Angelo is a massive triangular laterite fort built by the Portuguese viceroy Don Francesco de Almada in 1505 with the permission of the Kolathiri, the then king of Kannur. The structure is flanked by majestic bastions and has a wall protecting it from the rough seas and inland waters. In 1663, Dutch colonizers, who also had a fair share of trade interests in peninsular India, captured the fort from the Portuguese. They sold it in 1772 to the Ali kings of Kannur before it was finally seized by the British 18 years later and turned into a military establishment. Some of the canons still face the Arabian Sea like sentinels.

The fort is a unique amalgamation of Portuguese, Dutch, and British architecture. The Portuguese built the Central Prison, chapels, offices, and many other amenities; the Dutch constructed the stables and ammunition house, and the British renovated it and made it their chief military station until India’s independence in 1947. The fort walls look out across the Arabian Sea. It’s a good spot to regard the erstwhile colonial powers and their legacy of appropriation scattered around the world.

FEAST LIKE KINGS