Fodor's Expert Review Anchuthengu Beach and Anjengo Fort

The pristine Anchuthengu beach, 12 km (7½ miles) south of Varkala, is the location of a lighthouse and the ruins of the British Anjengo fort, built in 1695, which at various times was under Dutch and Portuguese attack. Anchuthengu ("Five Coconuts"), was the site of the first trade settlement of the East India Company, and therefore the beginning of British India. It was also the site of the first rebellion against the British, when locals, unhappy with the conduct of the British traders, banded together to oust them. All that remains of the 1695 fort is its four walls and a few tombstones from the adjacent cemetery. Like so many other areas of southern and central Kerala, the sea pleasantly merges with the backwaters here—be sure to bring a camera.