Kerala, known as God’s own country, has many water sport activities in its backwaters. Vallam Kali or Vallamkaliy literally means boat game. Boat races are among the grandest traditions still alive in Kerala. Among them, the most popular race is of snake so it also known as Snake Boat Race. The reason why they got the name is because of the length of the boats used in the races.

The Nehru Trophy Valam kali is conducted on the second Saturday of August every year and is a famous tourist attraction.People go to these events in large numbers to watch these snake shaped beauties go head to head in rhythm to the old boat songs sung in full volume. These snake boats or ‘chundanvallam’ are up to 100 feet long and bring the serene backwaters to life.

The story behind this goes back to the visit of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in 1952. He was so enchanted by the sight of the majestic snake boats that he leapt onto one of the snake boats himself, ignoring his security cover. Later on in the year, he would donate a silver trophy in the form of a snake boat as a gift for the memories of the time he spent there. Hence the race would later go on to be named the Nehru Trophy Boat Race. This year its postponed due to heavy rain.

Event date: 10-08-2019

Venue: Punnamada Lake, Alappuzha

Location: Punnamada

District: Alappuzha