VELLAM KALI-SNAKE BOAT RACE

THE NEHRU TROPHY SNAKE BOAT RACE:VELLAM KALI

When a friend came back from her vacation in Kerala, she was much too excited! Not only about the God’s own country Kerala and its beautiful natural surroundings, but the various cultural events she witnessed there. The Snake boat race was one of the many such local events which she had witnessed there. The name snake boat rose my curiosity…

Only later I came to know that the name “Snake Boat Race” comes with the shape of the boats which are used during the race and the actual name is the Nehru Trophy boat race. One of the most famous local events which attracts the people from all over the world to witness it. These boat races are the part of Kerala culture. For any good event, for any religious event a boat race is organized in this area of Kerala.

The Nehru trophy has a different story behind it though. As it was the tradition of the Keralites, they had welcomed the first prime minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, on his visit to Kerala. It was his first visit way back in 1952. Pandit Nehru was so thrilled with the performance of the rowers and the whole excitement that it created, that he declared a rolling trophy for the winner, and since then this event is being held annually with the trophy named after the prime minister.


It is said that long back the ruler of the area developed these boats so that his warriors had an easy time navigating in between the back waters during the wars. The boats did help. Since then every pious event or any celebration was commemorated with a game using these boats which e ventually culminated into races. The locales call it the Vallam kali in native language, meaning the boat game.

The boats are made up of Anjali thadi, a local forest wood. Today every village that participates in the race has its own prized boat and it is taken care of very devoutly. The boats are cleaned and rubbed and scrubbed. Then they are coated with oil and eggs for a smooth sail in the waters. The rowers of the boat are heroes of the village, and if they are the winners then they are worshipped!

These races are normally held in the area of Allapuzhha, in the Punnamada lakes or the back waters of Allapuzhha and are held between the months of July to September. Allapuzhha or Alleppey as it is known, is an hours distance from the commercial capital of Kerala, Kochi and about three hours from the beautiful Kumarakom.

The snake boat race has many records to its credit.

• It is a sport event having the highest number of team members in a single team.
• It is the biggest water vessel used for sports purpose.


The 100-120 feet long canoes is manned by four helmsmen, 25 cheerers /singers and 100-125 oarsmen, who row in unison to the fast rhythm of `vanchipattu'or boatmen's song. The boat moves like a snake through the channels and definitely is an eye catching sight for any tourist.
Every year lots of tourists throng the place to view this exciting event and also see the beauty of the state along with it. This year the boat race happens on 08th of August 2009. There are many packages that one can choose from to witness this event and add on the visit to rest of the Kerala. So for a cultural and festive thrill one should definitely experience this Boat race.

Solar Eclispse: the fascinating celestial event

Solar eclipse brings back the memories of my childhood. I do not remember much though… it must have been in the late 80’s that it was visible and was to be total Solar eclipse. That was the time I got introduced and also attracted to this celestial event which takes place due to the specific positions of the Sun and the Moon. It was always a story for these kind of celestial events told by the grandparents and we believed them often than not.
In the earlier days people used to donate many a things after the eclipse in India. Especially, because the occurrence of eclipse meant that a mythological demon called Rahu would devour the Sun god and hence the star disappeared for some time. Why did the demon let go the sun god after some time is however not known!! Though we were put up in Mumbai, after every small or big Solar or Lunar eclipse , beggars would come out asking for alms and people would donate voluntarily. There was no question of not believing the mythology!
It was only during that first time that dad explained us the actual phenomenon with drawings and it took me by surprise. I desperately wanted to see it… but it was not be visible from Mumbai. Even then there were solar protective sun glasses being sold in the markets and I had insisted we buy it. May be it was a Sunday, or I had missed my school, my sister and I were at home. The television had for the first time in my memory had a whole day programme, with flashes of the eclipse taking place.
It is now known that a Solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between Earth and Sun. If the moon's shadow happens to fall upon Earth's surface at that time, then we see some portion of the Sun's disk covered or 'eclipsed' by the Moon. The partial and the total eclipses depend on the distance between the earth and moon.
The next Total Solar eclipse to be visible from India was about 15 years ago in 1995 and many places in India were to witness that. This time I had to see it and luckily enough, it was to be visible nearby from Delhi. We hunted for the Solar glasses in Delhi but they were not to be found. Delhi seemed to be most apathetic towards the event. At the same time there was exposure boom about the event and its accessories in Mumbai and Kolkata.
We hit the road late in the night to watch the event which was supposed to take place early in the morning. It was the time just after the festival of Diwali, hence the weather was pleasantly chilly. We head straight on to Fatehpur Sikri, near to Agra, as that was the place we decided to view it from. The wait was annoying… but when the event took place… it was the most beautiful site that I could think of!
The time has come once more and I still long to witness that once in a lifetime event. This time too it shall be viewed early in the morning. The nearest place to Delhi for this is Bhopal and the other is Varanasi. However this time the time – span is 3 minutes and due to the rainy season, people are doubtful of its viewing. But many cities in India shall be able to witness this celestial event on 22 July 2009. Baroda, Indore, Gaya, and then going into north east India with Dibrugarh and then in to China, it will be viewed in huge number. China will have the maximum siting time of about 5 minutes and the time will be perfect, during noon.

It should be a great site watching it from the Ganges, and you may also see the hindu rituals that take place after the eclipse is over.
Do not miss this if possible. For the accessories you are sure to found in any of the planetariums in your city. The importance is that this shall be probably the last Total Solar eclipse that you can view and that too falling in the International year of Astronomy and 400th anniversary year of the telescope founded by Galileo.

Great Barrier Reef

Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef ecosystem. It is often known as one of the wonders of the world. It is composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands scattered for over 3,000 kilometres over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometers. It consists of 3,000 coral reefs and many islets, atolls and coral cays. The Great Barrier Reef is blessed with the breathtaking beauty of the world's largest coral reef. It supports a wide diversity of life, and was selected as a World Heritage Site. The reef is a very popular tourists spot. Most of the Reef is part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. It was declared as a national park. The Great Barrier Reef has a very rich biodiversity consist of important sea creatures like Whales, Dolphins, porpoises and turtles of more than six different types and also dwarf minke whale, Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin, and the humpback whale, salt water crocodile, sharks, stingrays etc. The Great Barrier Reef is a breeding area for humpback whales and is also the habitat of a few endangered species including the Dugong (Sea Cow) and large Green Sea Turtle.

Corals - Great Barrier Reef uniqueness comes from its three thousand coral reefs, islands, cays and lagoons, which are all at different stages of development. The reefs are the product of ten thousands years, during which the oceans rose to their present level after the last Ice Age. Small creatures known as coral polyps join together to form colonies of coral makes the reef. The coral reef can grow only in areas where there are sunlight. The most appropriate environment for coral is shallow warm water where there is a lot of water movement, where the water is salty, low in nutrients and plenty of light. Live coral is coloured by algae, but dead coral is white. Polyp looks like a jelly-like blob surrounded by a ring of tentacles on top. The busiest time in the reef is during night when the coral polyps feed, pushing out their multi-colored tentacles to entrap tiny sea creatures and plants called plankton. The reef looks like full of flowers when the billion of tentacles come out. The coral islands are home to all sorts of sea birds such as frigate birds, gannets, gulls, noddies, sea eagles, shearwaters and terns. Female turtles can be seen laying their eggs here during the summer. The sheer beauty of its fish and coral waterscapes draws two million tourists annually who come to see the underwater spectacle via diving, snorkeling and glass-bottom boating.

Sea Creatures - 17 species of sea snake live on the Great Barrier Reef. More than 1,500 species of fish live on the reef, including the red-throat emperor, red bass, clownfish, and several species of snapper and coral trout. Six species of sea turtles come to the reef to breed – the green sea turtle, hawksbill turtle, loggerhead sea turtle, leatherback sea turtle,olive ridley and the flatback turtle. A large group of dugongs live here. In mangrove and saltmarshes near the reef Salt water crocodiles lived.

Scuba Diving - This spectacular area has also become one of the top scuba diving sites in the world. There are 16 exclusive dive sites on 4 spectacular outer reefs. These are Thetford, Pellowe, Milln and Flynn. The dive sites have an average depth ranging from approximately 30 to 80 feet. Scuba Diving is most refreshing, entertaining and thrilling. Its tropical climatic conditions makes it popular for Scuba Diving. The sea is calm, throughout the year. Due to which this place has acquired for the activity of scuba diving.

Exploring the Great Barrier Reef is exciting, safe and easy. You can snorkel or scuba dive on boat trips with experienced crew on hand to supervise.Because of its natural beauty, both below and above the water's surface, the Great Barrier Reef has become one of the worlds most sought tourist destinations.