Remains of Cranganore Fort

The remains of Cranganore Fort aka Kottappuram Fort in Methala village, Kodungallur, Kerala is a reflection of a rich Muziris heritage. Built by the Portuguese in 1523 on a prime location on the mouth of Periyar river as it stretches to join the Arabian Sea. In 1663, the fort was captured and destroyed by the Dutch and later used the space to guard their trade ships. One could hardly call it a fort today as almost all the walls were found demolished and today the remains are undergoing excavation under the Muziris Heritage project.

 Excavated walls of the Cranganore Fort

 A panoramic view of the excavation site at the Cranganore Fort.

 A lengthy procedure to brush out the Muziris history looks worthy enough. These seemingly demolished walls takes us back to our glory days of spice trade or was it really that glorious? Numerous skeletons were also unearthed along with the artifacts said the site manager Balan.

" Muziris has the distinction of having yielded a complete human skeleton for the first time in India, from the Kottappuram fort area. Other items excavated here include Chinese coins, Chinese inscriptions, and pieces of decorated porcelain, West Arabian pottery pieces, iron nails, bullets, stone beads, 17th century Dutch coins and tiles. These will eventually go into the museums to be set up."

source : https://www.keralatourism.org/muziris/history.php

 Terracotta shards from the demolished Cranganore Fort.

 A brief history of ruins at the Cranganore Fort.

 Lot of Giant sized trees have flourished in the locality. Some of the locals referred the Fort as some haunted place until the excavation project cleared the tall grasses and thorny bushes. 

The root of a Giant Sized "Ezhilam Pala " ( Alstonia Scholaris ) a holy tree often planted in a temple premises in Kerala unearthed from the site. The tree has got lot of significance in folk stories of Kerala and is often related to demoness "Yakshi" but some findings relate "Yakshi" to goddess associated with the fertility of the earth.

For more info :
http://keezhkulamelangom.angelfire.com/yakshi.htm

http://maddy06.blogspot.in/2010/02/bewitching-yakshi.html

A mild notice to trespassers  

Later this pillar was erected by the Archaeology department of Travancore based on a purchase made by the then Travancore king Ramavarma Dharmaraja from the Dutch on 31st July 1789. The agreement of purchase was executed in 1909 and the ruins are preserved since the erection of the pillar.

Many of the buildings and houses near the Cranganore Fort area had European architecture and some of them still remain today.

European architecture evident on a building in the nearby market. The modern day Kottappuram market and the adjoining town developed around the Cranganore Fort. 
(Kotta means Fort in Malayalam and thus the name Kottappuram referring to an elevated land comprising a Fort).

A villager cruising with his country boat near the Kottappuram bridge. The Fort being strategically located at the mouth of River Periyar in Muziris acting as a gate way of foreign trade en-route Arabian Sea... the river that had hosted plenty of battles for spices during the Muziris era. 




How to get there : Nearly a kilometer away from Kottappuram market via the Puthenvelikkara - Thuruthippuram road. Coming from the Kottappuram market area, take a strict right turn before crossing the Kottappuram bridge and there your are dealing with some history.


https://maps.google.co.in/maps?hl=en&newwindow=1&q=cranganore%20fort&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl