Anchengo Fort

Being a traveller is like a chip embedded in your skin. Nothing can stop you from wanting to travel. As a kid, I had the opportunity to travel with my own family and cousins to many parts of India, which could be one of the many reasons why I always look for a possibility to travel. Moving back to Kerala is not one of my favourite decisions but I still started revisiting local sites and tourist spots to see it from a fresh far-reaching perspective.

My friends had asked me to join them for a one day drive to Varkala from Trivandrum, where we could go spend some time at the cliff enjoying the view accompanied by good food and beer.

I decided to squeeze in an Anchenjo fort visit en route.

Anchenjo, short form for “Anchuthengu” which means 5 coconut trees, is an abandoned fort which strongly reflects the Dutch/Portuguese and British influence in Kerala back in the 1700’s.

Unlike the picture of a typical fort that would come to our mind, this is more of an enclosed land mostly used as a signalling point for ships, building ships, storing ammunitions and so on. The tall walls are made of laterite and have stairs to access the top the fort. It is square in shape with two bastions land-locked and two facing the sea.

Anchenjo fort is also said to be one of the first set-ups of the East India company in Kerala. The reason why the fort was built was to break the monopoly of the Dutch in Pepper and Coir trade in Kerala.

The Rani of Attingal gave permission to the British to build the fort near Varkala and she was well pleased by expensive and exclusive gifts offered to her. But the chief men and the feudal lords demanded that anything given to the queen may be passed on only through them, which the British did not agree to and there was a rebellion against the East India company by the locals.

You can enjoy the breath-taking  view of the unexplored azure beach bordered by coconut trees from the top of the fort. Also soaring high stands the magnificent lighthouse painted black and white, which was used mainly to signal ships hailing from England.

It is probably a bad idea to go there on a summer day as there is no shade or place to cool off. The garden is not maintained so well nor is the security friendly. Even though the timings say 10am to 6pm the day we went they closed the fort for lunch forcing us to rush through the exploration.

The lighthouse opens only between 3pm tp 5 pm but if you have already been to the one at Trivandrum then this is no big wonder.

There is no entry fee

Carry lots of Sunscreen, Binoculars, Scarves.

No eateries nearby. Carry food and water.

Parking not available.

Photography is allowed.

Best to club it with a visit to Varkala. Not worth a visit only to Anchengo Fort. But even if a small part of you likes history then add this to your list of old landmarks to visit.