By IANS
Alappuzha (Kerala) : With oars coming up and down in unison, they sped away in their colourful boats in the Punnamada Lake here Saturday while thousands cheered the 55th edition of Kerala’s famous annual festival – Nehru Boat Race.
Spectators including many from abroad thronged the venue right from morning to get vantage positions on either side of the lake for the ‘Kuttanad Olympics’, as the event is billed locally.
“This is something unbelievable and we have been here for the past four days and have been keenly observing this great piece of sport, which I do not think is there in any other part of the world,” said a Belgian couple who came to know about this race from their friends who were here last year.
The 1,360-metre course had 56 boats taking part in 14 different events, but the star attraction was chundan vellom – the snake boat race.
The length of each snake boat varies between 120 and 140 feet. Each boat has around 120 oarsmen, plus the captain and his associates who stand and give directions by blowing a whistle.
“I have been to several places across the world witnessing boat races. But this is something special. The passion and keen interest shown by all is something that has to be experienced,” said German tourist Heinz Bremer.
“I was here a decade back and, believe me, the number of foreign tourists arriving for this event has dramatically increased,” he added.
The Payippadan snake boat edged out three other boats in a keenly contested final, winning the prestigious Nehru Trophy for the fourth year in succession.
Supreme Court Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan was the chief guest this year.
This year the race has raised a lot of passion for more reasons than one.
It was only last month that the Kerala government had announced boat racing as a sporting event, a move welcomed by all participants.
But the problem is that the central government has decided to build an oil cargo terminal at the finishing point of this hugely popular event. Six acres of land at the finishing point have already been acquired, raising fears that the race may never be rowed again.
K. Venugopal, former tourism minister and Congress legislator of Alappuzha, said that pleas against the terminal project seem to have fallen on deaf ears.
“It appears that at the moment the only option is to launch a series of protest programmes to shift the terminal. Passion is high against this acquisition,” Venugopal told IANS.
One of the British tourists who came here just to witness this race said: “I am really angry and upset at the manner in which authorities are trying to play spoilsport. What they fail to realise is that this is one great event which is now on the calendar of every foreign tourist who plans to come to Kerala.”
The history of this race goes back to former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s visit to the state in 1952 when a pageant of boats accompanied him on his trip from Kottayam to Alappuzha.
An impromptu race was conducted in his honour. Nehru, thrilled by the performance of the oarsmen, jumped into the Nadubhagam Chundan, a snake boat, forgetting all security arrangements. The boat proceeded to the jetty with him on board.
On returning to Delhi, Nehru donated a silver trophy, a replica of a snake boat placed on a wooden abacus with an inscription and his signature. This is the trophy for the winner in the snake boat every year.