29/05/2012
There seemed to be a story behind this annual event and the name of this carnival… In 1952, Pandit Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India was visiting Alappuzha. In honour of him, the people conducted the first impromptu boat race. The boat named Nadubhagam Chundan came first. Thrilled by the performance of the oarsmen, Pt Nehru jumped into the winning boat, ignoring all security arrangements. This boat carried him and proceeded to the boat jetty. Pt Nehru upon his return to Delhi donated a silver trophy, a replica of a snake boat placed on a wooden abacus, to the winner. The trophy had his signature and also an inscription above saying, “To the winners of the boat race which is a unique feature of community life in Travancore Cochin“. From then, this trophy is called the Nehru Rolling Trophy and the event is celebrated annually in his fond memory.
Why is it called a Snake Boat Race?
A question that lingered on… The boats which competed first were the Chundan Vallams, also called Snake Boats. It seems the former colonial rulers called them the Snake Boats – basing the name on a native boat found in Norway, although Kerala’s Chundans bear very little resemblance to their European counterparts. This gave rise to its prestigious name – The Snake Boat Race.
The Stage was set…
Colourful boat pageantry preceded the boat race – it was a marvellous treat. The canoes, all colourful and decked up were starting to roar and looked ravishing. Their statistics was no less – they were a 100–‐120 feet long made of a forest wood (called Aanjili Thadi), with a raised prow and carried 90-110 oarsmen and women on each single boat.
Bobbing and rolling beside one another, the raw power and determination of this mass of humanity could be seen. They rowed down the 1400 meters track of waterway as fast as they possibly could row – unmistakably very powerful to row such a gigantic sized snake boat, I wondered how the women could keep up with the men. As the shutterbug in me stood at the tip of my boat, trying to capture the canoes, they zoomed past my vision faster than my zoom lens could catch up with them. The splash emerging from the oars and the knive-like prows of the boats gave me the high.
Witnessing the Chundan Vallam (holding the record of the biggest water vessel used for sports purpose), it was a feast to watch these canoes literally move like a real snake through the channels. And to me it seemed like a wish fulfilled experience; albeit being jostled between two prevalent things at the backwaters – the pace and the race!
