Kozhikode Lighthouse

Kozhikode, or Calicut, has had a lighthouse since 1847, when a 33-metre tower of stone in lime mortar was raised with a fixed wick lamp burning coconut oil in front of a metal reflector. The light was improved in 1881 with an optic brought from the Armagon lighthouse.

In 1885 an engineer of the Public Works Department, Mr Ashpitel, advised that a lower tower would work better, and a new 15-metre tower was built in the early 1900s, its light made occulting with machinery from England. In 1924 it became a flashing acetylene light, and since 2008 a solar-powered LED flasher has been used. The present tower is white and the light is automated.