Uru making in Beypore, Kozhikode

Uru (yacht) is a kind of compact seagoing craft built by the traditional shipbuilders of Beypore in Kozhikode. Locally known as Khalasis, these shipbuilders are experts in their work. At Beypore area, one can still watch the making of these ships with timber. It is said that even now urus have a burgeoning market.

Even these days, people from the Middle East buy this type of vessel. In the sixteenth century, Urus were extensively used for transporting spices from the Malabar coast of Kerala. Efforts are on to keep up the uru tradition, which was a lively chapter in the historic Indo-Arab relationship.