A winning Snake boat waits out the pandemic

“I get nostalgic when I see the Chundan. I talk to him: ‘Dear Kallooparamban, how are you? Do you miss the backwaters? Don’t worry, you will soon be back,’”says Thomas Daniel, aka Thoma.

He is talking about the Kallooparamban Chundan, the family’s snake boat, famous for winning the Nehru Trophy Boat Race for four consecutive years in the 70s. Now, lying retired at a boatyard in Ayemanam, Kottayam for several years, it is the reason behind Thoma’s deep longing for the resumption of Vallamkali or Kerala’s boat races halted due to the pandemic.

This same love led him to collect photographs, news reports and articles about the various boat races since 1980s in a scrapbook of 1000 broadsheets.

“Kallooparamban invokes memories of my grandfather, grandmother, father, uncle Marty… the loud euphony of the practice sessions, the merry-making and back-slapping of the boatsmen…,” recalls Thoma with a sigh.

He adds, however, that he has not added a single photograph or information to his book since the pandemic brought the races to a standstill, and hit the fraternity that lives off this traditional annual event. But during the long inactive months of 2020 he had been visiting the boat and talking to him.

The culture of boat racing is an integral part of life of Kuttanad, a region that consists of Kottayam, Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta Districts. It grew to become a part of Thoma’s life while growing up in the eighties when Kallooparamban chundan was the star of the boat races.

Thomas’ collection began with a small book, History and Achievements of Kallooparamban, in 1995, while he was at school. It consisted of paper cuttings, of races starting with Champakulam Moolam boat race, of practice sessions and anything associated with the event. His love for the races would take him, “in small boats(Kettuvallam)” to watch the trials, two weeks before the races.

In 2014 he made a large book using 1000 pages broadsheets, pasting his collection of photos and reports. There are old Nehru Boat race tickets, reports of race fixtures, a 1976 agreement between Kallooparamban and a boat club, news and information of the conduct of the races, the winners, losers and the atmospherics.

“When I see a snake boat it gives me goosebumps. After its super performance in the 70s, Kallooparamban again brought the trophy back in 1992 and 1993,” says Thomas with pride, hoping that the pandemic will end, and his legendary boat will soon be back in the waters.

BOX: A snake boat is constructed according to specifications taken from the Sthapathya Veda, an ancient treatise for the building of wooden boats. These boats vary from 100 to 138 feet in length. With the rear portion rising to a height of about 20 feet, and a long tapering front portion, it resembles a snake with its hood raised. Hulls are built of planks precisely 83 feet in length and six inches wide. The boats are a good example of ancient vishwakarma’ prowess in naval architecture.