Kerala

Boat races

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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