Bekal -A visit to my native land

Bekal is a small village situated in the northernmost district of Kerala, Kasargod. This place happens to be my native too. We visit here to attend the functions at our family temple every year. Bekal is famous for the Bekal fort, which is the largest fort in Kerala. There is also a famous Shiva temple on the way to the fort.

Getting here: One can visit Bekal by train or by road. The train Mangalore–Coimbatore passenger departs from Mangalore Central at 7:35 AM. The journey is of 45-50 minutes. But we usually travel by our car. It is around 75 KM ride from Mangalore city.

We started at around 7 AM from Mangalore by our car. The NH66 road is in excellent condition now.Our first stop was the Anantapur Lake Temple. This temple is built in the middle of the lake in Ananthapura Village. Legend has it that the cave near the temple is connected to the Ananta Padmanabha temple of Thiruvananthapuram. Unforunately, I had not clicked any pictures of the temple during my visit there ( as our phones were switched off)

The temple is also famous for the vegetarian crocodile, Babiya who is said to be the guardian of the temple. The temple has a really amazing architecture. After visiting this temple, we reach Thirkannadu in Bekal. This is a famous temple of the region and is dedicated to lord Shiva. The temple is situated right in front of the beach. After visiting this temple, we left for our ancestral home in Bekal for lunch.

After a sumptuous lunch prepared by my granny and a bit of rest, we went on to visit the famous Fort.

Timings: 8:30 Am -5:30 PM

Entrance: INR 5 and INR 25 for the camera and INR 20 for car parking

There is a Mukhyaprana temple ( Hanuman temple) at the entrance to the fort and an ancient mosque nearby which are a proof to the religious harmony that prevailed in the land. The fort was built by Shivappa Nayak of Ikkeri dynasty and later captured by the Hyder Ali, the ruler of Mysore in the year 1763.

The fort was very well maintained and the gardens were in full bloom too. My most favorite part of the fort was the one end jutting to the sea. One can feel the sea waves splashing at your place from the point. Also, it was one of the best sunset view points that I have seen. Also, the famous song "Tu hi re" from the movie Bombay was shot here, in this fort.

Later we decided to visit the Bekal beach, which is adjacent to the fort. There are rides and a park for the kids. We spent around 15 minutes there as it was very crowded.

We left for Mangalore at around 5 PM and reached home by 7 PM.