Uru

making urus in Kerala. It is also

an important harbour in the
Malabar region. Located about

The name uru is associated with

the

traditional

ship

building

culture of Kerala. And the art and

science of making these ships
came from the Arab world, some
several centuries ago. The Arabs
called

them dhows and

they

eventually became the traditional

Arabian

trading

Centuries

ago,

vessels.

Arab

traders

traced their way to the spicescented shores of Kerala. And

after coming to know about the
availability of good timber in the
forests of Kerala and also the
presence of skilled craftsmen in
ship building, the Arab merchants
began

to

place

orders

constructing dhows to

for
the

craftsmen of Malabar in north

Kerala. And the rest of it is
history... but the tradition still
continues; perhaps not in its
original glory, but on a minimal
scale.
Beypore in Kozhikode district of
Kerala is the major centre for

10 km south of Kozhikode town

at the mouth of the Chaliyar
River,

historically,

Beypore

several centuries ago was itself a

prominent port. At one stage in
history, Beypore was also an
important centre for trade via
sea, attracting Arab and Chinese
travelers
Europeans.

and

later

Beypore

has

the
a

tradition of shipbuilding that is

about 1500 years old. It once
experienced great demand from
Western Asia for ships, because
of its fame as the home to
excellent craftsmen. This shipbuilding industry at Beypore once
had a healthy phase of growth
until the invasion of iron and
steel, posing a serious threat to
its

existence.

A typical uru in appearance is a

large vessel. It demands hard
labour and the dexterous hands
of craftsmen to build one. This
seagoing vessel is completely
made of wood and is built by

joining planks of good quality

models

timber. Usually an uru is built by

masterpieces.

a team of fifty men over a period

of urus made out of teak wood

of

also come enclosed in bottles.

at

least

four

years.

No

of

their

gigantic

The

miniature

blueprints are made and the

Nowadays,

entire aspect of ship building is

centres in Kozhikode, where one

embedded in the minds of the

can buy the models of urus and

highly skilled shipwrights. It is a

also get them made-to-order at

team

centres like Kairali and Surabhi

work

minimum

undertaken
of

with

sophistication,

following strict and orderly work

ethics

and

also

discipline.

Visitors to the shipbuilding yard

at Beypore would simply be
fascinated by the manner in
which the various stages are
executed.
Of late, Beypore may not have
the same charm as it used to
have in its halcyon days. Not
many urus hit the water these
days from Beypore. The changed
scenario in the ship building
industry at Beypore has in turn
made the local craftsmen to
switch to crafting little wooden

in Kozhikode.

there

are

many