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About Thekkepuram
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About Us
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CALICUT | Calicut , also Kozhikode, city, southwestern India , in Kerala State, a seaport on theArabian Sea. It is a railroad junction and shipping center of a rich agricultural region. Coffee, coconuts, tea, ginger, pepper, and other spices are the chief exports. Industrial establishments include sawmills, textile mills, coffee-processing plants, and factories producing soap and tile. The University of Calicut (1968) is in the area. Calicut was visited in 1487 by the Portuguese explorer Pedro de . In May 1498 the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama arrived here after completing the first voyage from Europe to Asia around the Cape of Good Hope. The Portuguese established a trading post at Calicut, then a prosperous cotton-weaving center, in 1513. They withdrew in 1525. Trading stations were founded in the city by the English East India Company in 1664 and by the French in 1698. The British seized Calicut in 1790 in retaliation against attempts by the local rulers to expel European merchants. In 1792 the British annexed the city, with much of the surrounding region. Population (1991) 419,531.
| | THEKKEPURAM | Since ancient period, Kerala has been a gateway, a place where many cultures and ideas arrived and flourished. Active trade existed between Arabia and Kerala and the Muslims dominated the trade. The kings of Kerala welcomed people to stay and granted them economic and religious security. Traders from Baghdad, Yemen and Bahrain had settled in many ports of Kerala and traded in spices and wood. By the end of the Seventh century, Islam reached the shores of Kerala through its traders. Christianity and Judaism had reached the place before Islam and enjoyed peaceful co-existence. For long, different religions spread in a non-aggressive manner. Local communities, both the lower and upper castes, took to the new ideas and converted to the new religion for various reasons. The story does not vary much for Thekkepuram too….
Thekkepuram is a village located inside the Kozhikode metro area in the Indian state of Kerala. Its approximate boundaries are the Arabian Sea on the West, the Kallai river on the South, Vellayil on the North, and the Kozhikode metro area on the East.
The famous Kallai River flows through the south side of the village. An iron railway bridge constructed across the river by the British is worth visiting. The large pool at Kuttichira attracts many visitors. Thekkepuram also houses some of the largest and oldest joint family houses called tharavadu. Many of these houses have more than 20 rooms and some of them are even equipped with swimming pools (Ponds).
Two ancient mosques called Muchundi Mosque and the Kuttichira Mishkal Masjid are used as private places of worship. Two major bazaars, the Big Bazar & Copra Bazar, are the oldest and biggest trading lanes in Malabar are located here. Thekkepuram beach and the Port Light House are easily accessible from this place.
The Muslims and Hindus here, working hand in glove. Hospitality and guest entertaining were in their blood. Thekkepuram Muslims still preserve their tradition as a role model.
| | People | Decades or Centuries back, the beach front of Thekkepuram area was busy with carts and Lorries and there were hundreds of Arab sailors walking up and down. The Arab boats arrived as soon as the monsoon was over, in October, and the last left the following May, before the rain started. Some of the boats were owned by Kozhikode businessmen, but the majority belonged to Arab traders. You could see the boat owners sitting on the verandas outside the Pandikashalas (offices) of the exporters. Some of these Arabs came to Kozhikode for the whole trading season, others had settled here. They married and had families, children. Arab sailors ate and slept in the godowns (warehouses). They were away from home for a long time and they also took 'wives' here. Some of these are big traders from Kuwait, Baghdad Oman, Bahrain, Egypt and Yemen. The last Arab boat came here in 1975. Currently Thekkepurates are known for their trading and have a near monopoly in the big bazaar of Calicut. More than 20% of the Thekkepuram population is working abroad (mainly in the Middle-East) and this brings foreign currency into the state. Most of the inhabitants in Thekkepuram are Muslims.
There is a unique marriage and joint family system in this area: women continue living in their ancestral houses after marriage and their puthiaplas (husbands) move in. For every marriage in the family, a room is added to the house. The newly added room is called Maniyara (wedlock room). Some houses here have more than six added rooms to accommodate the multiple weddings.
| | Places of interest | Thekkepuram area is noted for the unique example of medieval Kerala architecture showcased through the mosques and aristocratic residential houses (Tharavads). The architecture style, with inner courtyards, multi-stories and slanting tiled roofs, is common to Hindu temples, Muslim mosques and Christian churches.
| | The 'chira' (Pond) | The chira, with its stone-paved steps leading to the water, was once the centre of activity and the place from where state proclamations from the Zamorin were made. Still it is the major place for social gathering, conferences and a common CHATTING Place for all the thekkepurates irrespective of their age. Other noted mosques here include the Jamayatpalli, and the smaller Muchuntipalli, built between the 13th and 16th centuries and exhibiting plaques with Arabic inscriptions. The Muchuntipalli inscription mentions grant of land and resources by the Zamorin. These are few examples of mosque architecture along the Kuttichira "Kolam" (pond). These masjids depict the lifestyles of early inhabitants along the place and also the culture attached. The entrance porches of these Masjids are warm and welcoming with platforms on either side. For a moment you think you have stepped inside a house. The wooden plank on the platform is many inches thick and the columns are solid wood sculpted in geometrical forms. The ceilings are ornate with floral motifs. Above the ornate relief, the verses of Koran are etched.
The masterpieces of local sculptors can be found in the interiors of the masjids and "Tharavads”.Together with huge tharavads in the background, these houses create an arresting picture of Thekkepuram's culture. More than memories cast in bricks, they show the unity of the joint family and the community itself.
Thekkepuram - the Koya residential area of Kozhikode –, with its highly specific matrilineal tharavadus (joint households) – and the Gulf – connected historically to Kozhikode through trade and migration – become inseparable. Thekkepuram still is a good example of the perfect communal harmony. |
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