Iconic Kavalam Chundan lies in ruins

ALAPPUZHA: The famed Kavalam Chundan of the Nehru trophy boat race now lies in ruins due to years of neglect. A five-time winner of the  trophy, it had inspired some immortal  film songs  composed  by Vayalar-Devarajan  team for the film Kavalam Chundan  in 1967 and for Simhaasanam in 1979 by Srekumaran Thampi.      One of the most popular chandans in the fifties and sixties, which won the trophies in 1954, ’56, ’58 (shared with Napoleon) ’60 and ’62, it has been out of the race since  2010.

Owned by the  Kochupurakkal family in Kuttanad, Kavalam began its water journey in 1952.  The Chundan bought by Kochupurakkal Ouseph Thomman in 1942 from Kainakari is now under the custody of his descendants. It is kept in the shed built at the deserted Kocupurakkal compound at Kavalam.  The Kavalam villagers are the local guardians of this jewel of a boat.      

Vinod Karichal, a boat race buff, said the  Kalapurakkal family had disintegrated with  some settled in Malabar and the others  abroad. For years it lay like a dead snake in the Kochupurakkal property.  They wanted to keep it as a family asset and the shed was renovated spending Rs 1 lakh.  The frame of the boat  is deteriorating due to lack of  protection. A new Kavalam Chundan can be built if the villagers come together, he said.  The Kavalam team was one of the finest boat clubs in Kuttanad, but it  has been dissolved and the members  have joined other teams.