Bekal Fort: a well-preserved fort on the Malabar coast of Kerala

History slumbers peacefully within the walls of the Bekal Fort located in Kasaragod, the northernmost district of Kerala, South India. It is situated on the Arabian Sea coast and the only invasion of modernity into it is a children’s park.

It was built in the latter half of the 17th century by Sivappa Nayaka of Badanore and was later taken over by Haider Ali, the ruler of the then state of Mysore and subsequently came under the control of his son Tipu Sultan.

The Fort is spread over 40 acres and is built of laterite. The sea-facing area of the fort has bastions with the provision for mounting guns.

After the time of Tipu Sultan, Bekal Fort was taken over by the British who ruled India for three and a half centuries. Today, in independent India, it is a protected monument under the care of The Archaeological Survey of India.