Anchuthengu, formerly known as Anjengo, is a coastal town in the Thiruvananthapuram District

Thiruvananthapuram district

Thiruvananthapuram District is the southernmost district of the Indian state of Kerala. It came into existence in the year 1957. The headquarters is the city of Thiruvananthapuram which is also the capital city of Kerala....

 of Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

.

This was an old Portuguese settlement lies between Kollam

Kollam

Kollam , often anglicized as ', is a city in the Indian state of Kerala. The city lies on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake on the Arabian sea coast and is situated about north of the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram...

 and Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...

, near Varkala

Varkala

Varkala is a coastal town and municipality in Thiruvananthapuram district situated in the Indian state of Kerala. It is located 50 kilometres north-west of Thiruvananthapuram and 37 km south-west of Kollam city.Varkala is the only place in southern Kerala where cliffs are found adjacent to...

. Literally the word ‘Anjuthengu’ means 'five coconut palms.’ The whole land is cultivated with coconut trees.

The place possesses great archaeological and historical importance. In 17th century, the English East India Company

East India Company

The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

 selected Anjengo to set up their first trade settlement in Kerala. The Queen of Attingal

Attingal

Attingal is a town and a municipality in the Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala state, India, bounded by the Mamom and Vamanapuram rivers. It is situated 30 km to the north of state capital of Thiruvananthapuram.-Demographics:...

 granted the place to the British for trading. They established a factory and a fort here with the permission of the queen.

Many ancient churches, an old Lighthouse

Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

, a 100 year old convent and school, tombs of Dutch and British and the Anjengo Fort are major points of interest here. The churches are built in accordance with the principles of the Portuguese architectural style. The fort played an important role in the Anglo-Mysore Wars

Anglo-Mysore Wars

The Anglo-Mysore Wars were a series of wars fought in India over the last three decades of the 18th century between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company, represented chiefly by the Madras Presidency...

 in the 18th century.

Anchuthengu has a beautiful and clean beach. Fishing boats parked on the hot sand and nets drying in the sun are worth seeing. Kaikara village, the birth place of the famous Malayalam poet Kumaran Asan

Kumaran Asan

N. Kumaran Asan , also known as Mahakavi Kumaran Asan , was one of the triumvirate poets of Kerala, South India...

, is located nearby.

Anchuthengu is about 36 km north of Thiruvananthapuram. The nearest airport is Trivandrum International Airport. Kadakkavur Railway Station is 2 km away.