CALICUTCITY:Kapad beach near Kozhikode Calicut

Kappad beach is the exact location they say where Vasco Da Gama touched the Indian soil after a nine month voyage from Portugual in 1498 (May 20 1498) landing at the beach with a reasonable crowd from his three sea carriers.

Kappad is some eighteen kilometers or so from the Kozhikode (Calicut) town.It would be ideal to take one of those buses going to Telicherry and alight at a point called Pookad and hire local conveyance to this point.

There is a Monument erected here to commemorate this journey and the step taken by Vasco Da Gama. The monument as of  now is few meters inland the sea having withdrawn from the land considerably over the last few centuries and this monument is now set adjacent to a housing locality.The beach is worth visiting and the sea and its vast expanse can be felt at this place.

Few hundred meters to the North of this point is another beach with a large rocky formation and some like to visit this place and feel the Sea from this rock.

MY ARTICLE ABOUT VASCO DA GAMA

It was in 1997 or so I got an information from Dr. Janardanan of  NIT Calicut that a souvenir was being released in Calicut Kozhikode to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the visit of Vasco Da Gama to the shores of Calicut which happened on  20th of May 1498.The souvenir was to be released by the Indo-Portugual Chamber possibly under the aegis of  the embassy of  Portugual in India.

I wrote an article about VASCO DA GAMA  which I found later was the first article in the souvenir. A copy of the souvenir was sent to me by post.Sadly later I lost the copy that was sent to me.In retrospect I believe it to be a very well written piece of  matter.

If any one who is reading this has a copy of this article from anywhere around the world kindly get in touch with me.