Beypore Dhow for Muziris Heritage Project

The first dhow built at the yard of the Centre For Heritage Ship Technologies, Beypore will be handed over to the Department of Tourism. The dhow, under construction at the ship yard at Beypore, will be used for developing waterway cruise to places, those come under Muziris Heritage project of the state government.

The dhow or uru will be rowed in the Periyar River and nearby water bodies for tourism purpose. The construction of the dhow is expected to be completed by January and

will be handed over to the tourism department by February next year, said KKN Kurup Director General of the Centre For Heritage Studies.

The Uru has 45 foot length, 15 foot width and seven foot height. The small model of thousands of year old heritage ships from Beypore can accommodate 30 passengers at a time. The dhow will be bought by the tourism department spending Rs.1 crore, said KKN Kurup.

Apart from cushioned seats arranged in two rows, the boat will also have a captain's cabin. The model of a swan will also be carved as the figurehead on the bow of the dhow, said K K N Kurup.

The cruise of the dhow under Muziris heritage project would be marked in the history as it would be a blend of two heritages. A blend of two port cultures, Muziris, an active port in the 1 century BC was the channel of Indo-Greek and Indo- Roman and Egyptian relationships and with that of Beypore, major port and ship building centre in Malabar.

According to historians, the place known as Muziris had influenced the lives of great personalities like Adi Sankara, Kannaki and St.Thomas. Buddhists and Jews also used to arrive at the port. It was also a favourite destination of Arabs, Romans, Portuguese, Dutch and the British.

Dhow building of Beypore, according to historian have more than 2000 years of glorious history. The sturdy wooden barges used during the reign of Cleopatra and the ones used by Napoleon were built at Beypore.

Besides, it is the first attempt from the part of Kerala Government to use dhow for tourism purpose. Earlier, huge dhows were bought by Arabs and Europeans for business purposes.  The dhow will cruise in the water bodies through areas those cover eight gram-panchayats and two municipalities in Ernakulam and Thrissur districts those come under the Muziris heritage Project.

After launching of the dhow it will be towed to Kochi from where the decoration work will be completed. The dhow will also be coated with fish oil  and the longevity of the dhow is 40 years according to KKN Kurup.