Malpe is a natural

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

in the

Udupi District Udupi district (also Udipi () in Kannada or Odipu () in Tulu language) is an administrative subdivision in the Karnataka state of India, with the district headquarters in the city of Udupi. It is situated in the Canara old north Malabar c ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

, India. Located at the mouth of the Malpe River about six kilometers to the west of

Udupi Udupi () also known as 'Odipu' () is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the administrative headquarters of Udupi district, and one of the fastest-growing cities in Karnataka. Udupi is one of the top tourist attractions in Karnataka an ...

, it is an important port and a major fishing harbor on the Karnataka coast. The town of Malpe is associated largely with settlements of the

Mogaveera Mogaveera is a fishermen community in the Tulunad region of South West India. They dominated the maritime business of the region. History The Mogaveeras are the fishermen community of Tulu Nadu. The Mogaveeras have also been porters or pa ...

fisherman community. Malpe is a hub of

Billava The Billava, Billoru, Biruveru or Bhil, Bhillava people are an ethnic group of India. They constitute 18% of the total Karnata population. They are found traditionally in Tulu Nadu region and engaged in toddy tapping, Agriculture, cultivation an ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

and

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

population.

History

Malpe is an ancient sea port and harbour, where Karnataka and the western world traded. Malpe has been mentioned as early as second century C.E. by the Greek geographer Ptolemy. The location is also mentioned in an ancient Greek farce found written on

papyri Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can ...

from the second century or earlier, published in modern times in ''The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Part III.''

Industry

The major industry in Malpe is

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farm ...

. Malpe is also known as the largest fishing harbour in the

. A considerable number of the area is employed directly and indirectly by the fishing industries.

Malpe Beach and coastal marine life

Malpe Beach is known as a destination for holidays and picnics. The Beach has a Sea Walkway with a view of St. Mary's Island and Bhadargad Island, as well as the rest of the beach. It also contains a statue of a fishing family, including a fisherman, fisherwoman, and child, created by the artist Purshotham Adve. Visitors can head to Udupi to visit Sri Krishna Temple (5 km) or Kapu beach and lighthouse (20 km from Malpe) to spend the rest of the day. Mangaluru city (60 km) offers more beaches, temples and attractions for an extended weekend trip. The Beach also has 24/7 wifi connection, available for free for 30 minutes. There are other tourist attractions close to Malpe Beach, such as Ulall Beach, St. Mary's Island, Daria-Bahadurgad Fort, and Balarama and Ananteshwara Temples. The Major Institutions in India involved in the management, monitoring and research on Coral reefs are the

Ministry of Earth Sciences The Ministry of Earth Sciences is an executive ministry of the Government of India, established on 29 January, 2006. It was formed through the reorganisation of the Department of Ocean Development and the assumption of administrative control ov ...

, the

Zoological Survey of India The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), founded on 1 July 1916 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of the Government of India as a premier Indian organisation in zoological research and studies to promote the survey, explora ...

, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Madurai Kamaraj University, Annamalai University, National Centre for Earth Science Studies, National Institute of Ocean Technology, National Institute of Oceanography, India etc. Gaveshani Bank, a calcareous sand bank and a platform type living corals reef of 38 m to 60 m depth, is 100 km offshore at latitude 13° 24'N and longitude 73° 45'E and Malpe is nearest port. Reef originated in

pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

when sea level was low, and during coral reef continued to rise with the rise in sea level during

holocene The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...

which resulted in creation of this

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

.R.R. Nair and S.Z. Qasim, March 1978, Occurrence of a Bank with Living Corals Off the South-West Coast of India, Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Sciences (IJMS), Vol.07, pp. 55-58.

Malpe Sea Walk

On 27 January 2018, A sea walk way was commissioned and inaugurated by Minister for Fisheries, Youth Empowerment and Sports, Pramod Madhwaraj. Located next to the Tourist Jetty in Malpe, where the tourists board boats to visit St. Mary's Island, The sea walkway point gives a view of the entire stretch of Malpe Beach, St. Mary's Island and the Bhadargad Island. The statue of a fisherman's family by artist Purshotham Adve welcomes tourists as they approach the Sea Walk area. This project took three months to complete and costed ₹ 53.5 lakh. In October 2020, The Malpe Development Committee, allocated an additional budget of ₹ 2 crore for facelift of Malpe Sea Walk and addition of artefacts at the beach. A 15-feet cement statue of Jatayu is one among the few additions under this project.

References

{{Reflist Udupi Beaches of Karnataka Cities and towns in Udupi district Geography of Udupi district Ports and harbours of Karnataka Transport in Udupi district