Alappuzha: Once again the festive calendar of Kerala would be festooned with an array of snake boat races, the first of which will begin on Thursday. Known as the Champakulam snake boat race, it will be held in the Pampa River at Champakulam, 25km from Alappuzha. An interesting feature is the presence of three thekkanodi boats with women rowers. Conducted on the malayalam star of Moolam, this Moolam Boat Race. which was started much before the formation of the State is deep rooted in the history of Kerala.
A colourful cultural procession is organized on the previous day followed by the customary rituals performed by the Travancore Devaswom Board at the Champakulam Mutt temple and the Mappilassery ancestral home, from where the boat race is thought to have evolved are the other star attractions of the event.
This is the first boat race after the State Government accorded sports status to boat races. As per the new rules and regulations, oarsmen would be accepted as sportsmen. Uniforms are provided for the participants and separate tracks have been allocated for racing boat. However, the Boat Owners Association has decided to keep away from the race, demanding bonus prize money and maintenance grants for their boats, which would rob off much of its gloss due to the absence of ‘churulan’, ‘odi’ and ‘iruttukuthy’ boats, which were stellar attractions of this race for long.
However, the presence of the fabled Aranmula ‘palliyodam’ category of snake-boats is expected to make up for this flaw as ‘Palliyodam’ boats would be contesting in the event for the first time in its 400-year-old history. Nine ‘chundan’ boats, three ‘thekkanodi’ boats and three ‘palliyodam’ boats from some of the prestigious boat clubs of Alappuzha, Kottayam and Kollam districts are participating in the race.
