Archive · 23 Aug 2026
72nd Nehru Trophy Boat Race Opens at Punnamada Lake
The Nehru Trophy Boat Race is a famous boat competition in Kerala.
It is being held at Punnamada Lake in Alappuzha.
The 72nd race began on Saturday.
The main event is the snake boat race.
These boats are long and narrow and carry more than 100 rowers each.
The rowers must paddle together very quickly.
Seventy-one boats are taking part this year.
The event began in 1952 after Jawaharlal Nehru visited Kerala and watched a boat race organized in his honor.
The 72nd Nehru Trophy Boat Race began at Punnamada Lake in Alappuzha on Saturday.
The snake boat race started at 3:30 p.m. on a roughly 1,100-metre track.
A total of 71 boats, including 22 chundan vallams, are competing in the regatta.
Each snake boat carries more than 100 oarsmen, whose synchronized rowing drives the boats forward.
The race originated in 1952 after a spontaneous boat race held during Jawaharlal Nehru’s visit to Kerala.
- Who
- Seventy-one competing boats and their rowers, including crews on 22 chundan vallams.
- What
- The 72nd Nehru Trophy Boat Race, featuring the main snake boat race.
- When
- Saturday; the snake boat race began at 3:30 p.m.
- Where
- Punnamada Lake in Alappuzha, Kerala.
- Why
- The event traces its origins to a spontaneous race organized in honor of Jawaharlal Nehru during his 1952 visit to Kerala.
- Event
- 72nd Nehru Trophy Boat Race
- Location
- Punnamada Lake, Alappuzha, Kerala
- Boats competing
- 71 boats
- Chundan vallams
- 22
- Snake boat track
- Approximately 1,100 metres
- Rowers per snake boat
- More than 100
- Race start
- 3:30 p.m. on Saturday