Nehru Trophy Boat Race

Come 11th of August, 2007 and the tranquil lake of Punnamda near Alappuzha will convert into one of the most exciting places in Kerala. The reason behind it is the Nehru Trophy Boat Race. For those who are not really aware of the NTBR, let me start off by giving a brief introduction. Boat races are quiet popular in the south India state of Kerala. Infact, they are one of the major attractions for foreign tourists. NTBR is the most popular of all these races and is organised on every second Saturday of August. People, in lakhs come to witness the competitive exuberance of this boat race.

The boat race was first held in 1952 to honour the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who was on a trip to the region. Watching the race, Pandit Nehru got so involved and excited that he broke all security barriers and embarked a boat to take a ride on it. Later, in the same year, he presented a a silver trophy for the winner of the race. The trophy bore an inscription which said, “To the winners of the boat race which is a unique feature of community life in Travancore Cochin." Since then, the boat race has become one of the most elaborate events in Kerala every year.

In 2006, the event was organised on 13th of August and saw participation from around 60 boats including 18 snake boats. The event also saw the participation of UAE based 10 women who joined a group of 23 Indian women. This was the first ever international participation in the women category. The race was won by the Payippad Snake Boat from Kumarakom in Kottayam. This boat has not only been a regular participant of the event for decades but is also the winner of the coveted trophy for three consecutive year. For those who have already made arrangements to see the event this year, this boat is a definite watch out one. However, it will also be interesting to see if another boat can break the winning streak of the Payippad Snake Boat.

The image you are seeing above was used as alogo of 2006 NTBR. The logo of the event is selected by the Nehru Boat Race committee from amongst the entries received from the general public. The logo name was Thakkudu. The name itself was selected from amongst thousands of entries received from children belonging to class 1- 7. Both the winner of the person whose logo and the child whose suggested name is selected is given a cash prize. In 2005, the state bird of Kerala, VEZHAMBAL was he logo of the NTBR.

The NTBR is not the only boat race that is organised in the month of August. There are two other boat races taking place in this month. The Aranmula Boat Race is scheduled to be held on 30th of August while Payippad Boat Race is going to be held just a day before, on 29th of Aug. So anyone wishing to be a part of the Nehru Boat Race is definitely going to benefit watching two other exciting and pulseracing competition.

To know more about the boat races of Kerala, click here