Building Dhows
It was a
mansion built with blocks of timber. The Huge House had a rich style; it looked
unfinished but still had its own charm. Few bricks were used. It seemed as
though the timber left over from dhow building had been used to build this
timber palace. It was quite cool in here in spite of the summer heat here in
Calicut. This was the house of Abdualla Baramy.
Abdualla
Baramy is constructing dhows (the old sailing vessels of the Indian Ocean) in
Beypore, an ancient port of Malabar. He is from a family of boat builders called
Baramys whose ancestors hail from Yemen. Boat building has been in their blood
for seven generations. He can explain about the different types of ships, about
where they sailed and where they are still sailing.
Beypore, near
Calicut has had a continuous tradition of ship building from ancient times.
Located on the mouth of River Chaliyar,
timber of the finest quality was easily available in Beypore.
The rain forests which formed the upper basin of the
river enabled an endless supply of timber which helped Beypore to develop as a
center of ship – building.
Dhows
of Beypore are unique in their various technical features, design, and longevity
and for these very reasons, Beypore dhows have won the hearts of their customers
for centuries. Their makers had an inimitable caliber of mind, muscle and
perfect craftsmanship. For several thousand years this wooden vessel, using the
monsoon, has circulated around the Indian Ocean incessantly, conveying goods and
people between the Swahili coast, the coast of Arabia, Iran and India, and even
as far as the East Indies and China. Baramy says that it takes around 25 days to
travel to the
Malabar Coast from Arabia with the help of the Mausam or Monsoon.
Thirty to fifty years ago Beypore flourished with the spice trade and also ship
building. Baramy says that around 35-40 dhows were built during a year and
around 5000 men were employed directly and indirectly. In order to build a dhow
around 40 to 50 types of wood were used. Nilambur timber was extensively used as
it contained good oil content which is best suited for dhow construction.
Timber with all these qualities arrived in Beypore thevappam (Floating timber
logs through the Chailyar river). Floating was not only the cheapest means of
transport, but logs of any size could be carried to the yards, which was
otherwise impossible.
At the forest
felling sites in Nilambur, builders ordered certain timber in specific sizes and
shapes. Many different types of timber were needed for plank-built ships. The
Pandi (keel) required a strong hard and heavy timber. The Vari (ribs) frame, on
which the strength and durability of the ship depended had to be stronger and if
possible should be essentially of teak and mast had to be straight and strong
but of light weight. The part of the dhow that lay submerged in water was made
of a special water absorbing wood called benduche.
Various types
of ships were built in Beypore. Some of them were:
Boom
Padavu
Bireek
Kottiya
Sambook
Bahla
Pathemar
The
Beypore ships were usually around 300 tonnes and sometimes 600 tonnes.
Dhow
construction
is a diverse-layered process. A perfect plan and
collection of raw materials would be done first before beginning the
construction of a dhow, No plans are drawn on paper; they lie only in the minds
of Baramy. The entire construction process can take months. Timber is the
prime raw material and the construction would depend completely on the
availability of good timber from Nilambur forests.
The
‘Keel’ is the first part of a dhow to be made. The second phase of work is
concentrated on the second layer of the dhow from the bottom called ‘ganel’.
Iron and copper nails are used to hold the wood together. Filling the gaps
using quality cotton is the next tiring phase of work. It is a very time
consuming process that has to be done with absolute care. Making of ‘chukkan’ is
the third part of the construction. The ‘Chukkan’ begins from the keel itself
and its height would be the actual height of the dhow. ‘Chukkan’ provides the
total control of the vessel. Then the inside part of the dhow ‘deck’ and,
finally ‘aruthi’ is made. The manufacturing process is completed with the tying
up of the sail ‘mat’ (paya) to the mast (chamaram).
The
launching of a ship is a festive ceremony,
attended by a large number of people. First, a prayer is said by the Qazi. When
a Dhow was ready for launch wooden planks were kept up to appropriate height.
The logs of the Puvathi tree serve as rollers are put on either side. Over these
roller beams (Balus) strong enough to support the ship are kept. The gap between
the beams and ship are filled tight with ropes. Then the ship is allowed to
slowly move over the rollers with the help of rope and pulleys. In water they
dip exactly up to the water mark earlier drawn by the Baramy. After the
successful launch, a feast is laid out for all who have contributed to the ship
building effort.
Baramy feels
sorry for the state of Dhow building today. It’s been five years since the last
Dhow left the shipyards of Beypore. The shipyards were ruined because of Labour
problem caused mainly by middlemen who tried to cheat the Arabs and the
Labourers in every possible way. Another problem contributing to the downfall
was the non availability of the good quality timber from Nilambur. Shipyards now
are in a sorry state and have to depend on government run Coops for quality
timber. As usual unwanted rules and regulation by the government and the sorry
state of Chaliyar river have put a question mark on the survival of this great
craft.
But
Abdualla Baramy is optimistic. He has always been honest and had close relations
with the Arabs. Baramy now has an order from
Kuwait. He is all set to
start building a three hundred ton Luxury dhow. Baramy is all set to start his
work from October with the availability of timber and also the money from the
Arabs.
This
meeting with Abdullah changed Machaan's initial fascination for the Dhow into a
full blown passion ! Day after day Machaan dreamt of going on a voyage on this
classic beauty. After a lot of sleepless nights with the Dhow, Machaan had the
good fortune to
meet with Mr. Pookoya
who was none other than a 'Nakhoda' (Captain of the 'Jamaliya' Dhow).
