Beypore is a historical port town situated 7km away from Kozhikode town. Beypore is world famous for its ‘uru’ (a kind of traditional ship) building. Uru is a large and well-built ship or a dhow, made by connecting wooden planks. Historians say that Beypore’s shipbuilding tradition dates back to about 1500 years. The availability of teak made it easier to build these wooden dhows or uru as it is called. The port gained its importance after the Arab traders came to Kozhikode. They were amazed by the quality of the ships made here and thus started using them for their journey and carrying goods for trade. Later the European invaders too started depending on the ships built at Beypore port making them famous all over the world. It is amazing and unbelievable when we know that the ships built here used no machines nor did they have a blue-print to begin with. Duarte Barbosa, the famous Portuguese traveller had mentioned in his travel journal about the uru construction at Beypore. Even today Beypore continues its legacy of making at least ten models of uru which includes Kotiya, Pathemari, Sambook, Bahla, Boumb, Bireek and so on. Most of these traditional ships are now built for Qatar and UAE. Uru and uru construction are an important part of Kozhikode’s trade history.
