Nehru Trophy Boat Race 2005

13 - August - 2005 ( Second Saturday ) - Punnamada Lake Alappuzha Kerala.

Alappuzha's Nehru Trophy Boat Race is an unmissable event which began in 1952 when India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, visited Alappuzha. It is now a major event held in the afternoon of the second Saturday in August and features the gigantic snake-boats of Kerala, known as Chundans.

The race has grown into Alappuzha's single most important tourist event, with boats being sponsored by different villages. Competition is intense as the boats, with more than 100 rowers in each, battle it out to the accompaniment of rousing music.

Chundans (snake-boats) are an impressive sight, measuring more than 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.