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The
Nehru Trophy Boat Race, the
most colourful water sport in Kerala, is conducted at PUNNAMADA
LAKE in Alleppey on the second
saturday of every August. This prestigious cultural event of Kerala, which
has been attending people from all over the world. Nehru Trophy Boat Race
is a festival for the people of Alleppey. Though it is a festival, the
attraction about this is the sportive sprits among the participants of
the race.
Several Boat races are taking
place in several parts of Kuttanad and other parts of Alleppey. But today
despite all the other water festivals and functions this particular event
has gained popularity and attraction for many people.
This trophy was named as
NEHRU TROPHY
was awarded to the winners of the boat race which is a unique feature of
community life and is gift to the people of Alleppey.
This aquatic festival fosters
a sense of unity and fraternity and sports man spirit event and attaching
foreign tourists also.
In the year 1952, Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru visited the erstwhile Travancore-Cochin. On his way to
Alleppey from Kottayam he was given a roaring reception by the people of
Alleppey, escorted by the huge snake-boats. Having gone through the tremendous
excitement of sailing in a snake-boat popularly known as Chundan, Jawaharlal
Nehru donated a rolling trophy to be awarded to the winner. The trophy
is a replica of a snake-boat in silver, placed on wooden abacus on which
the following words of Panditji are inscribed above his signature. "To
the winner of the boat-race which is a unique feature of community life
in Travancore-Cochin".
This trophy was later christened,
'Nehru Trophy'.
Many different kinds of
country-boats like Iruttukuthy, Veppu and Churulan also participate in
the race; women and students also compete in the events over a distance
of 4850 ft. The beautiful scenery of the race area together with the exciting
snake-boat race, will ever remain a cherished memory for the onlookers.
Alleppy, the land of lakes,
lagoons and water courses, have had a prestigious and prosperous past.
That is the reason why it earned the sobriquet, the Venice of the East.
It signifies that Alleppey was a very alert and lively centre of trade
and commerce.
Nehru Trophy Boat Race,
the renowned aquatic spectacle which manifests a rosy sprout of tourism,
if nourished and nurtured in proper perspective, will give a sure and steady
boost to the growth of tourism in Alleppey.
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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