ARANMULA BOAT RACE

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ARANMULA BOAT RACE

 

The Aranmula Boat

Race the oldest river boat fiesta in Kerala, the south western State

of India is held during Onam (August-September). It takes place at Aranmula, near a Hindu temple

dedicated to Lord Krishna and Arjuna. The snake boats move in pairs to the rhythm of full-throated singing and shouting

watched by an exciting crowd. In 1972, snake boat races were also added to the

programme of the festival. Thousands of people gather on the banks of the river Pampa to watch the snake boat races. In 2009 forty

one snake boats or 'chundan vallamshad participated in the festival. The oarsmen

sing traditional boat songs and wear white mundu and turbans. The golden lace at the

head of the boat, the flag and the ornamental umbrella at the center make it a

show of pageantry too.Aranmula is about

128 km from Trivandrum, capital city of Kerala. It is situated on the

banks of the river Pampa. The famous temple at Aranmula is dedicated to Sree

Parthasarathy of Lord Krishna as the divine charioteer of Arjuna. A rough

estimate puts the age of this temple to 1700 years.Architecture

Constructed according to specifications taken from the

Sthapathya Veda, an ancient treatise for the building of wooden boats, these

boats are anywhere from 100 to 138 ft in length. With the rear portion towering

to a height of about 20 ft. and a long tapering front portion, it resembles a snake with its hood raised. Its hull is built of

planks precisely 83 feet in length and six inches wide.

Aries Punnamada Chundan, an initiative of the Aries Group of Companies, is widely acclaimed to

be the longest Snake Boat with a length of 144 ft.

'Aries Chundan', the first ever snake boat made of steel,

entered the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest canoe crew

accommodating 141 people on board.It is also the first Snake Boat to be

constructed in steel. This `chundan' has found place in the Limca Book of

Records for the longest snake boat made of steel. Mr.Sohan

Roy S.K was the master brain behind this innovative project. K

Surendrababu from Kainakari was the chief architect of this 'chundan'.

This innovative steel snake boat had a scientific design

which was based on the latest scientific methods in naval architecture. The

boat’s shape and stability had been designed using the famous ‘Autoship’

software. The strength had been analysed by a finite element method, an

overhanging test was conducted to analyse the longitudinal strength and a

sinking test was conducted to prove its ‘unsinkability.’Thanks & RegardsKRISHNA KUMAR MAHADEVA IYER (VENU)MOBILE: +9745678453krishna_mkk.krishnamkk.DOHA,QATAR.http://internationaliyersgroup.shutterfly.com/The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it