BEKAL FORT -KERALA,An ideal Picnis Spot

BEKAL denotes that it is made out of Boiled Stones which is considered to be a strong& solid stone for building a Fort. The Bekal Fort in Kerala (Kasargod District) at a place called Pallikkara is one of the most ideal picnic Spotsfor those who are on vacation. it is a spot more suitable to enjoy with picturesque scenes nearest to Arabian sea but less colder than Munnar one of the leading spots usually suggested by fTour Operators.There is also one beautiful beach&back water spots as in Thiruvananthapuram&Alapuzha districts. In other words,one could more popularly call it 3-in-1 Picnic spot of Kerala which is also called with love "God's own Country" There is a Railway Station nearby & 2 Airports at Calicut(Karipur)&Mangalore.Calicut is also a well known international Airport like Mangalore. However,Mangalore International Airport is just 60 KM from this biggest fort in Kerala whereas Karipur( Calicut/Kozhikode) is 180 KM away from the Spot The fort one of the oldest & biggest in Kerala has different versions of history about it. The prominent among the claims are briefed below: The most believed & widely known version is that it was built in 1650AD by Shivappa Nayak of Bedanore.It was also a Part of Mahodayapuram during The Perumal age.some of the historians claim it is absolutely Kerala origin.some others claim it is Portugal Origin.This argument is owing to it's resemblance to St Angelo Fort at Kannur which was built by Portugese. Some other historians claim it was built by Tipu Sultam. The western Portion of the Fort is claimed to have been built by Tipu Sultan as it has slits on the wall for observing Enemies & also to use guns for attacking those who come nearer to the fort. There is one observation tower in the middle which is claimed to be the contribution of Tipu Sultan.The observatory Tower is vital from the point of view of Strategic defense,the smallest object in the sea could be observed clearly & defensive measures could be taken before the enemy approaches nearer to the Fort.this protective measure to safeguard the Fort&army inside it is really an important feature which do not appear to be present in the similar Forts in India.This makes Bekal fort a strategically Fort as compared to other Forts.the observatory tower gives a clear view of the coast line & Sea which are beautiful from the point of view of Tourists. As a lot of controversial views exist about the origin & ownership,let us conveniently forget it as it has nothing to do from the angle of sight seeing.But at the same time the Fort remains there for even today to serve the purpose of Defence if an attack via Sea comes up from any present day Enemies of the Nation.So the Fort serves dual purpose But today it is more vital for tourists. So it looks it is more desirable to look at the Fort from the beautiful Surroundings & from the point of view of the tourist attractions. This great fort built 300 years ago has many tourist attractions to offer. The fort has such a splendid beach Surrounding near it. It has beautiful water sports spots near it which attracts sports loving visitors. Extremely beautiful & picturesque scenario around the fort&Back water attractions to enjoy. It has superb observation Tower to watch the glittering & blue the Arabian sea in the morning & evening. The sunrise & Sunset with red & multicolored cloud formations which at times shows images of animals,birds,men,women,kids & many more if one is lucky This is a very modern attractive shooting place for film makers.From this one can imagine how beautiful the place would look like. Many film makers have shot many famous films here.The Song sequence "Uyire" from Tamil Film BOMBAY of Veteran Director Mani Ratnam was shot at Bekal Fort.Many such movies,Music Albums& commercial advertisement films have been shot here in the past & are still being shot from time to time The Bekal Fort was taken over by the Government of India in 1992 by declaring it a tourist area.In the year 1995 the Government had also Formed the Bekal Tourist Development Corporation for transforming Bekal Fort into an International Tourist Centre. Since then every year the flow of Tourists & sight seeing people from all over the world increased many fold & is an important source of tourism revenue for the Government. In view of the comprehensive details narrated above,why are you waiting to visit the Bekal Fort to enjoy the very vital purpose of Picnics.So next time when you plan a vacation in India please don't forget to include Kerala in it especially Bekal Fort apart from Munnar,Thekkadi,Idukki,Trivandrum,Alleppy& the great Temple town SreedharanMundanat 7 th May 2013 2000 hrs(IST)