Ever since I watched the song "Tu hi re" from Mani Ratnam's Bombay movie, I was captivated by this place where the song was shot, waves lashing the walls of the keyhole shaped fort, the panoramic view of the beach, blazing sun, white sand and the sea. I have a habit of noting down the location when I watch a visually appealing Bollywood movie or song and this place is out of that list. After a lot of cancellations and postponement, I finally visited this beautiful fort on the Bekal beach in north Kerala. With a lot of excitement and no fixed plan or itinerary, I started my journey and little did I know that this would turn out to be one of my most memorable trips. A majestic fort with unique architecture, 6 km long Bekal beach trek, a several thousand-year-old ritual, local delicacies and a lifetime of memories.


Mangalore  

Bekal (Kasaragod) is well connected by road and railways but there was no direct train connectivity from Hyderabad, so we opted to go for Bus. We decided to take a bus to Mangalore, which is 60 kms from Bekal. There are private buses which ply regularly between Mangalore and Hyderabad. The cost of Volvo bus (AC) is Rs1300 (one-way).

Bekal Fort

Once in Kasaragod, you need to take other bus to reach the Bekal Fort which will take about 20 mins. After the long and tiring journey, I finally reached the place and this place is beyond BEAUTIFUL. There are many local vendors in front of the Bekal Fort selling coconut water, pineapple, watermelon and faluda. Don't miss the pineapple with honey, it's delicious. To enter the Bekal Fort, you need to buy a ticket costing about Rs5  (for Indians). The Bekal fort is spread over forty acres and is well maintained by archeological survey of India. If your idea of fort is ruins, writing across the walls and litter all around, you will be surprised. This is one of the cleanest and well maintained fort in India. In fact a part of the Bekal fort is converted into garden. Some important features of the Bekal fort are the water tank with its flight of steps, a tunnel in the fort which opens towards the south and the broad wide steps leading to the bastions. The bastions rise to a great height and offers clear views of nearby places like Pallikare, Kanhagad, Kottikulam, Uduma and others. The Bekal fort was built solely for defence purposes, unlike other Indian forts which also had the residence of the royalty. Holes in the walls and on the bastions helped keep the enemy at bay. There is a flight of steps leading to the bastion on the extreme right of the Bekal fort. We climbed down the gaps in the rocks to reach Bekal beach.