Congress and CPM two sides of the same coin: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the Congress and the CPI-M two sides of the same coin who engage in friendly competition in Kerala, yet remain partners in Delhi.
The Punnamada Lake in Kerala’s Alappuzha district is all set to host the 66th annual Nehru Trophy boat race on Saturday.
Thousands of people, including tourists from abroad, gather at Punnamada Lake to witness the annual regatta. Also known as the Snake Boat Race, the event marks the beginning of the tourism season in the state.
About 81 boats including 25 snake boats will compete to win the Nehru Trophy Boat Race 2018.
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Ahead of the boat race, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan extended his wishes for the mega water event.
Tollywood star Allu Arjun has been invited as the guest of honour for the prestigious event.
The NTBR is held on the Punnamda Lake every year on the second of Saturday of August. However, the event was pushed to November as due to the heavy downpour and flooding in the state.
The most popular event of the race is the competition of Chundan Vallams (snake boats). The 100–120 feet long canoes made of wood moves like a snake in the lake and hence gets its name.
Other categories of boats which participate in various events of the race are Churulan Vallam, Iruttukuthy Vallam, Odi Vallam, Veppu Vallam (Vaipu Vallam), Vadakkanody Vallam and Kochu Vallam.
This year, the prize money for the winner of NTBR has been raised to Rs 2 lakh.
Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of Independent India visited Kerala in 1952. He was given a roaring reception by the people of Alleppey, escorted by the huge snake-boats. Having gone through the tremendous excitement of sailing in a snake-boat, Jawaharlal Nehru donated a rolling trophy to be awarded to the winner of the race. The trophy is a replica of a snake-boat in silver, placed on a wooden abacus.
It was on 1 July 1969 that the trophy was renamed as Nehru Trophy.
The race course, with a length of 1370 meters is divided into various tracks.
An estimated 15 small and big boat races are held during this monsoon season alone but the Nehru Trophy boat race is the most popular of all the races.
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