Beyond the laidback beaches and spectacular cliff views of the sea, Varkala and its surroundings have a hoary past. It was once a centre of colonial trade for the Dutch East India Company and later, the British-led East India Company.
Kerala Tourism’s latest short film, ‘Varkala and the Mystery of the Dutch Wreck,’ directed by filmmaker Abhilash Sudheesh, unspools the mystery of a Colonial-era shipwreck off the Varkala-Anchuthengu coast.
“The idea for the film came about in the midst of a conversation about the book, Kadalarivukalum Neranubhavangalum , by marine researcher and deep-sea diver Robert Panipillai, which I had with ad man Kenney Jacob, who runs the ‘Kerala Tales’ social media handle of Kerala Tourism,” says Abhilash. One chapter of the book, which unfolds the secrets of the seas, is dedicated to the wreck of the Dutch trading ship the Wimmenum (1752), which sank about nine miles off Anchuthengu village, near Varkala, some 250-plus years ago. Robert was arguably the first to document the wreck.
