Tourists flock Kerala lake for the famed boat race

ALAPPUZHA - Hundreds of tourists, including many from western countries, were gathered at the Punamada Lake here Saturday to witness Kerala’s famed boat race, in which 16 snake boats and around 40 small boats are to participate.

President Pratibha Patil is to witness the 58th edition of the Nehru Boat Race, which also marks the beginning of the state’s tourist season.

Last year, Congress president Sonia Gandhi was the chief guest.

The snake boat race is the main tourist attraction because the length of a snake boat varies from 120 to 140 feet and has about 120 oarsmen.

“I had read about it and heard a lot about this marvel from my friends who have been here on numerous occasions. This time I and my wife felt that we too should come and see it for ourselves, and we have been camping here for the past two days,” said Jim Cook, a retired teacher from Birmingham, Britain.

For the past few days, Punamada Lake has been getting a steady stream of foreign tourists who have been watching the participating teams rehearsing for the big day.

“The beauty of this event is that interest for it over the years has been growing. We will certainly have more foreign tourists witnessing this spectacle compared to last year,” said Tomy Pulikattil, one of the organisers of the event.