Chingrikhali Fort (Purano Kella)

The crumbling remains of the sixteenth-century Portuguese fort sit on the riverbank a short walk from the town centre. Locally known as the Purano Kella (Old Fort), the ruins are modest (sections of wall, fragments of masonry, what may once have been cannon emplacements) and are being gradually consumed by the shifting riverbank. Do not come expecting a drama of preserved battlements; come instead for the atmosphere of the thing. The ruins sit within a scrubby field overlooking the water, and on a breezy morning, with the river running fast and wide and a couple of trawlers in view, the imagination fills in what time has taken away. Visitors reach the fort by crossing a field from the road; look for local direction-givers or ask any toto driver for Purano Kella.