Silk Street, Calicut

Mishkal Masjidh, Calicut

South Beach is an ideal place for morning and evening walks and it is less crowded than the more popular and touristy North Beach of Kozhikode. To access south beach, you have to begin from the back side of the Kozhikode railway station and walk westwards by Big Bazar or 'Valiyangadi' where Europeans and Arabs brushed shoulders just a few hundred years back. When you move south from Big Bazar, you pass by Gujarathi Street, Parappil, Thangals road, and Idiyangara. After crossing the Francis road, you can proceed to the Sheikh Dargah, Grand Auditorium, Mishkal Pally, Kuttichira, PI Road, MM Highschool, Girls School and Kundungal village. The next landmark is the scenic Chakkum Kadavu bridge on Kallayi river and when you cross it, you have reached Payyanakkal village.

Moving further south takes you to Marad beach. Marad is notorious in Kerala history because nine Hindus were killed here by Muslim terrorists. The next landmarks are Kayyadi Thodu and Gotheeshwaram Temple. This route proceeds to Beypore port where there is a one km walk into the Arabian sea with tiled suface and electric lamps to brighten the path in the evenings.

The Silk street connects Halwa Bazar with P.T.Usha Road on the western side of Kozhikode railway station. There is a Sunni mosque and Dargah in this area. The headquarters of the Malayalam Sunni newspaper ‘Suprabhatham’ is also in the locality. On the beach, there is a road going southwards which takes you to Gujarathi Street, Parappil, Bavutty Haji Road and Darul Huda areas. Mishkal Masjidh is situated at Kuttichira, some two km from the railway station. It is 600 year old structure. The mosque has a Beautiful pond surrounded by several old buildings. The mosque is very photogenic only when you look from the other side of the pond. This four level mosque is built mostly of wood. The mosque has no cupolas or minarets and looks like a Hindu temple. Maybe, Kerala’s temple architecture influenced the architecture of old mosques in Kerala which have gopuram-style entrance arches and no minarets. Non-Muslims will need a special permission to enter the mosque. After crossing Kallayi river, you have to turn right before reaching Kallayi railway station so as to access the Marad road. Chakkum Kadavu is the first town followed by Payyanakkal, Marad, Kayyadi thode and Gotheeshwaram temple. If you move further south, you can reach Beypore port and sea walk. If you turn north from Chakkum Kadavu, you can access the South Beach by the newly built bridge. From there, the railway station is another two kilometres only.