When wooden hammers wielded by deft hands hit the wood, there is a unique flow and cadence. You can experience this at the dhow-manufacturing unit near the Chaliyam Fishing Harbor opposite Beypore Port in Kerala. After a 20-year break, the dhow-making unit at Beypore has started functioning again.
There was a time when roads and railways weren’t developed and people depended on dhows (traditional sailing vessels) to transport cargo. As a result, they developed the skills to make them. In fact, Beypore was famed for its uru (wooden dhow) making tradition.
Dhows are made without using a blueprint. Instead, it is based on calculations. Dhow-making expert V K Narayanan says that it takes 12,000 cubic metres of timbers to make a dhow. “To strengthen timber, fish oil is rubbed onto it,” he says.
“The work begins by placing the keel on wooden supports,” says Narayanan. “At both ends, two timbers, 35 inches high, with a 14-inch width, are put up vertically. These structures are called neels. The next step is to place flat woods horizontally above the keel in one row and manikal (curved woods) in another row, to form the structure of a boat.
“It needs the labour of 20 people for one-and-a-half years to construct one vessel,” says Haji P I Ahammed Koya, whose firm makes dhows.
It was Kamakantakath Kunhammed Koya Haji, a businessmen with links to the Middle East, who began the business of dhow-making. Many businessmen from Kuwait, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Iran bought his dhows. After his demise in 1919, his son Haji P I Ahammed Koya took over the business.
Later, Koya’s sons expanded the business to Mumbai and Mangalore. During this period, there was a good demand for dhows and it lasted for two decades, till 1995, after which it fell into decline. At the peak of its popularity, Beypore dhow-makers used to construct 20 to 30 dhows per year.
The reasons for the decline were many—lack of skilled labour, unavailability of timber, high labour charges and lack of government support. “There was an institute started by the government to train people in dhow-making, but it is no longer functioning,” says Ahammed.
Despite all these hurdles, Ahammed worked towards reviving dhow-making here. But it was not an easy job. “The raw materials and employees were not available at first. I had to procure the timber from Malaysia and search for months for good carpenters. Now dhow-making is gaining momentum and has a good market in Gulf Countries,” says Ahammed.
A few months ago dhows of 100-foot length were sold to clients in Doha, Qatar. “It was not for any commercial purpose but for personal use,” said Hashim P O, a member of Ahammed’s firm. An average of three dhows per year are made.
Hashim said two more dhows are under construction for clients in Qatar.