NEHRU TROPHY BOAT RACE

Kerala’s famed Nehru trophy boat race (NTBR) which is held on the second Saturday of August every year on the Punnamada Lake in Alappuzha, has been postponed.

• NTBR is the most competitive and popular of the boat races in the country.
• The major attraction of the boat race is the competition of snake boats chundanvallams or snake boats.
• Chundans (snake boats) are an impressive sight, measuring over 100 feet in length, with a raised prow.
• They were called snake boats by the former colonial rulers, who based the name on a native boat found in Norway, although Kerala’s Chundans bear little resemblance to their European namesakes.

Background

• The Nehru Trophy Boat Race named after Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru is conducted on the Punnamda Lake, near Alappuzha, on the second Saturday of August every year.
• On the day of this fiercely fought boat race, the tranquil lake front is transformed into a sea of humanity with an estimated two lakh people, including tourists from abroad for watching it.
• The first race was an impromptu once conducted in 1952 in honour of Panditji who visited Alappuzha.

Source: The New Indian Express

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