Uru is one of the famous terminologies heard among sailors, traders, fisherfolk, and others, as it is the massive wooden ship built in the Beypore shipyard in Kozhikode district. They learned this traditional craftship from the Arab traders who manufactured the dhome ships. Beypore Port was one of the famous commercial ports in Kerala that facilitated trades with Arabian, Chinese traders and later with the European powers. At a time when dhome ships were famous Arabs found out about the high-quality timber abundant in our Kerala lands.
Picking out the best of the craftsmen they started building uru ships with big fat bellies entirely out of planks of timber. As a result, uru ships were of great demand for national and international voyages. It requires at least 50 skilled craftsmen and labour of four years to construct an uru ship. The craftsmen have no blueprints drawn beforehand, they complete it using their talented brains which usually turn out to be brilliant. These wooden ships were at their very heights when steel and iron came by and hit the business, posing a serious threat to the wooden ships.
Nowadays not many of the ships go out to waters from the Beypore shipyard. So the craftsmen diverted their skills to making miniature models of the Uru ships made of teak wood. They also come enclosed in bottles and open air. You can purchase them, it is such a great ethnic product that would make a real surprise gift to someone who loves traditional ethnic items that shout out ancient heritage.
