|
The palm-fringed, picturesque Punnamada Lake in Alappuzha is getting ready to host the world famous Nehru Trophy Snake Boat race on August 9, 2008. The boat race, held on the second Saturday of August every year, is the most competitive and popular of Kerala’s boat races.
An event attended by thousands of people, the race is the competition of chundanvallams or snake boats measuring over 100 feet in length. The history of the Nehru Trophy Boat Race is associated with the visit of late Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India, to Alappuzha. He went from Kottayam to Alappuzha by boat, a pageantry of boats accompanying him on the trip. The first race was an impromptu one conducted in 1952 in honour of Panditji. Nadubhagam Chundan stood first and Panditji, thrilled and excited, jumped into the victorious Chundan, forgetting all security arrangements. Pandit Nehru donated a Silver Trophy, which is a replica of a snake boat placed on a wooden abacus, which later came to be known as Nehru Trophy, and since then, the people of Alappuzha have celebrated the Boat Race in fond memory of their great leader.
As in previous years, Alappuzha Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC) will organise the race. ATDC has arranged for a big cruiser boat from which spectators can witness the exciting event very close to the finishing point.
|
