Onam is also the season of snakeboat regatta in the Central Travancore district of Pathanamthitta.
Kerala’s youngest district will be venue to as many as five snakeboat regattas from September 2 to 8 and all of them will be held in the waters of the Pampa.
Mannar will be hosting the first event, Mahatma Boat Race, in the water stadium of river Pampa on September 2 afternoon. Sri Lankan Law Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakse will be inaugurating the event and Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha P.J. Kurien will be guest of honour at the inaugural ceremony.
As many as 45 boats will take part in the event to be held in separate categories of Chundan, Veppu, Iruttkuthi, and Chururlan.
The Pampa Boat Race will be held at Neerettupuram on September 3 afternoon. Boats in the categories of Chundan, Churulan, Veppu, and Iruttukuthi will take part in the races to be held separately at the annual event.
The Avittom Boat Race will be held in the Pampa at Ranni on September 5 afternoon. Only Aranmula Palliyodams (snakeboats) will take part in the Avittom Jalotsavam. As many as 15 Paliyodams are expected to take part in this year’s regatta, according to the organisers.
Panchayat-sponsored regatta
The Ayroor grama panchayat will be organizing the Chathayam Vallamkali at Ayroor-Puthiyakavu, near Ranni, on September 6 afternoon.
As many as 23 snakeboats belonging to the Palliyoda Karayogams on the Edakkulam-Edasserimala stretch of the Pampa river basin will take part in the boat pageantry and race.
Uthrittathi Vallamkali
The season of Vallamkali this Central Travancore belt will come to a close with the grand finale of the famous Uthrittathi Vallamkali in the Pampa at Aranmula on September 8.
The Palliyoda Seva Sanghom, apex body of the Palliyoda Karayogams that own snakeboats, has mae elaborate arrangements for the smooth conduct of this year’s snakeboat regatta.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari will be the chief guest at the annual event to be inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on September 8 afternoon.
A total of 52 snakeboats will take part in the pageantry and race to be held in the Aranmula water stadium. The Garuda-faced vessel of the Sree Parthasarathy Temple, Tiruvonathoni, will be an added attraction of the pageantry.
