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| Time
of the year |
: |
August
- September |
| Venue |
: |
Kerala
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| Duration |
: |
2
days |
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| Kerala
in South India is popular for its boat races,
especially the ones that are organized during
special festivals such as Onam. This harvest
festival comes in August/September. Scores
of long snake boats and other smaller crafts
participate in these events. The largest team
sport in the world, the snake boat races are
preceded by colourful water parades. Another
very popular event that takes place in Kerala,
South India annually is the Nehru Trophy Boat
Race. Nehru Trophy Boat Race is the most famous
of the boat races of Kerala. This annual regatta
is held on the Punnamada Backwaters of Alappuzha
district on the second Saturday of August.
The event is a commemoration of the visit
to this place by the late Prime Minister of
India, Jawaharlal Nehru, in 1952. The spectacular
races features magnificent snake boats or
'Chundans'. The boisterous and rhythmic boat
songs or Vanchipattu work the spectators to
a state of frenzy. |
| The
major attraction of the boat race is the competition
of snake boats or chundanvallams. for the
Nehru Trophy Boat Race all the 18 snake boats
of the state will participate. The race course,
having a length of about 1370 mts , is divided
into various tracks for the conduct of the
competition. When they are advancing through
various tracks, it appears like the fast moving
snakes. The oarsmen splash the oars in unison
with the rhythmic chants and beats of drum.
The movement of competing boats are so thrilling
that the spectators get in tune with the excited
mood of the surrounding uproars. Usually a
snake boat is manned by four helmsmen, 25
singers and 100 - 125 oarsmen who row in unison
to the fast rhythm of the vanchipattu (song
of the boatman). Thousands of people crowd
the water's edge to cheer the huge black crafts
as they slice through the waters to a spectacular
finish. |
The Kerala boat races are known for the extreme
thrill and excitement that is generated when
these boat races take place. The special boats
or regattas that are utilized for these races
are specially designed. These regattas popularly
known as snake boats are long and slender
boats that are built for speed. The length
of some of these boats is so much that more
then a hundred oarsmen are needed to propel
one regatta.
Nehru Trophy Boat Race , the prestigious cultural
event of Kerala, which has been attracting
peoples all over the world for more than four
decades now, is a unique aquatic fete. Against
the Sylvan backdrop of Kerala landscape, this
aquatic festival fosters a sense of unity
and fraternity and sportsman spirit among
the hundreds of participants as well as the
thousands of spectators. |
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