It is that time of the year again when Kuttanad (water-logged granary of central Kerala) wakes up to the thrill of the traditional boat races. It is the time when television sets with their music reality shows and gyrating film numbers are switched off and people flock to the carnival called Vallam Kali.

There are about half a dozen boat races in Alappuzha district alone but the most important is the Nehru Trophy boat race, which is slated to be held on August 13. Named after the first Prime Minister of the country, the competition’s crowning glory is the race involving the chundan vallams (snake boats).
Imagine the spectacle and the electrifying atmosphere as 40 of these snake-shaped, 100-foot boats compete with each other, each having a team of 120 oarsmen, singers and helmsmen, and thousands of spectators cheering along. It may be a sporting competition but it is also a festival that reflects the undying spirit of a people and their commitment to their indigenous culture.
The first race was an impromptu one conducted in 1952 in honour of Panditji when he visited Alappuzha. After an exciting contest, when Nadubhagam Chundan triumphed, an excited Nehru is said to have jumped onto the boat, leaving the security personnel confused, and proceeded on it towards the boat jetty. On his return to Delhi in December 1952, Nehru donated a silver trophy, which is a replica of a snake boat placed on a wooden abacus. Thus began the Nehru boat race saga.
“The boat race elevated Alappuzha to a major tourist destination. Among the boat races of Alappuzha, Nehru Trophy has a great place in the minds of the people of the land,” says Tomy Pulikkattil, executive committee member of Nehru Trophy Boat Race Society.
In the run-up to the competition, 54 teams toil day and night to try and win the prestigious trophy. At least 50,000 people flock to the Punnamada lake to relish the visual treat of the boat race.
Last year, tickets worth `38 lakh were sold. “This time, we expect sales worth `58 lakh,” said Tomy.
The District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) expects the response to the race will be enthusiastic this season. “Tourism will gain momentum because of the race and we have initiated measures to ensure this,” said Jiju Jose, secretary of DTPC, Kottayam.
Kumarakam, the tourism hot spot of Kottayam, also has an array of boat races including the Thazhathangadi boat race, the Kumarakom boat race and the Kavanattukara boat race.
Even as many feel that the full commercial and tourism potential of vallam kali is yet to be exploited by the State, old timers lament that commercial interests are threatening to erode the spirit of the sport. They feel that the boat race symbolises communal harmony and the spirit of coexistence and mutual acceptance but this may soon be a thing of the past.
“Now big groups have entered the arena and are buying sportsmen by offering big sums. This causes division among the oarsmen and the glorious tradition of the sport is under threat,” says K.S. Sughesh, former president of Town Boat Club Kumarakom.
Agreeing with him is K.N. Sasidaran, former captain of Town Boat Club Kumarakom. “The government should take adequate measures to preserve the true spirit of the game. The sportsmen are daily wage earners, fisherfolk and others from the poor sections of the society. They can be easily lured away by offering money. The authorities should take care to ensure that the tradition and unity of the sport remains intact,” says Sasidaran.

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When a whole village makes a boat
AJAYAN

Often, it is not only the skills and stamina of the oarsmen but also the quality of the boat that decides whether a team makes it to the podium or not. What matters, besides aesthetics, is the shape and structure of the 120-foot long snake boat with its head going upward like the hood.
When they build a boat, the whole village joins the festivities. “Building new boats is quite a rare phenomenon since the cost is prohibitive. You need over `20 lakh with around 20 people working for roughly 10 months to make a boat,” says 65-year-old Chellappan Aasari, the master craftsman, at Ksheerimel near Aranmula, the venue of a boat race.
Everyone lends a hand and caste or religion is no bar. It is the wood of aanjili (artocarpus hirsutus) tree that is used for making the boat. Five massive planks that are at least 40 feet long and 90 inch wide are sawn from a selected log to make the boat.
People attach sanctity to the process, right from selection of wood to the carving till it is finally introduced to the waters, and that explains why one enters the boatyard barefoot.
A 120-foot long and 5.5-foot wide boat with a tapering front and a rear going up to nearly 20 feet takes about six months to build. Coconut oil is mixed with cotton and some herbs to fix the gaps in the boat. Charcoal from coconut shell is mixed with fish oil and eggs to give it a protective coating.
There are raised platforms in compartments for the oarsmen which traditionally would hold 64 of them with 12-ft-long oars. But during a race, up to 100 rowers will be there in one boat.
In a bid to standardise size and form, a steel snake boat was built by the marine firm Aries Group. “It has been in the waters for the last 1,600 days and is now used for practise by the teams for the Nehru Boat Race. This is because the wooden boats soak when introduced in the water and become heavy,” says Aries COO Sohan Roy.
This boat was also used by a team of women in last year’s Nehru Trophy purely for demonstration purposes since tradition prohibits women from rowing the sacred wooden boats and taking part in the race.

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A sound concept
Sujit Chandra Kumar

If there is anything that is as alluring as the sight of the snake boats racing against each other in the Alappuzha backwaters against a stunning backdrop, it is the music that accompanies the races. Sung by the oarsmen themselves, in a high-pitched, native rhythm, the songs are familiar to one and all.
“Kuttanad, one of the two granaries of the region, is a water-logged area,” says writer and theatre personality, Kavalam Narayana Panikker. “Water is the most dominant feature here. And where there is water, can boats be far behind? Farmers here cultivate rice in reclaimed land and they used to sing these songs to cushion the effect of the hard labour on their bodies. Interestingly, there was a pattu kooli (singing fee) given by landowners as a special allowance.” The same folk songs came to be used by those rowing the boats and the rhythm synchronises perfectly with the oars as they fall and rise. There is an entire body of vanchipattu literature and modern albums and film songs have also been made on the same style.
One of the most famous of the traditional songs used during the races is the Kuchelavrutham vanchipatthu by Ramapurathu Warrier. “It is in the Nathonnatha metre and the metrical level is decided by the use of meaningless syllables like thai, thai, etc. The pace of the singing increases with the increasing pace of the rowing,” says Panikker.