Age and lack of care have reduced legendary boats Kalluparamban, Kavalam, Parthasaarathy, Nadubhagom and Ambedkar that scripted success stories in the Nehru Trophy Boat Race to their pale shadows, writes T. Sudheesh
Kavalam
Kavalam Chundan, a five-time winner of the trophy, has inspired immortal film songs composed by Vayalar-Devarajan team and by Srekumaran Thampi. It won the NTBR in 1954, ’56, ’58 (shared with Napoleon) ’60 and ’62. The boat has been out of race since 2010. Owned by the Kochupurakkal family in Kuttanad, Kavalam chundan began its 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 a shed built at the deserted Kocupurakkal compound at Kavalam. The family renovated the shed spending Rs 1 lakh. But due to lack of protection the frame of the boat is deteriorating. The Kavalam team, one of the finest in Kuttanad, has since been dissolved.
Parthasaarathy
A journey that started in 1952 for Parthasaarathy chundan ended in 2009. The legend has it that when Thekkemuri men in Nedumudi was constructing the Mahadevikad chundan, Vadakkepurakkal Govindan Achari from Champakkulam wanted to be part of the carpenter’s team. But he was mocked. Chastened, he returned home and began to construct a chundan mortgaging all assets.
It defeated its arch rival Thekkemuri chundan in the presence of then Viceroy who gave it the status as Parthasaarathy No-1. Later, it lifted the trophy three times - in 1955 rowed by NSS Karayogam, Nedumudi, and in ’65 and ’68 by the United Boat Club Kainakari. It was acquired by Rajappan Nair of Thottakkad. The boat, or the ruins of it, is still in the custody of his descendants.
Kalluparamban​
Kalluparamban, owned by the Kalluparamban family in Kuttanad, was a formidable race-horse till it withdrew in the early ’90s. Six-time winner of NTBR (1970, ’71, ’72, ’73, ’92, ’93), it was bought by Halley Mathew Kulluparamban from Kizhakozhur-kara of Aranmula in 1970 as Palliyodam. With the expertise of Kovil Mukku Narayanan Achary, he later built it as a snake boat. It was the first to win a hat-trick in the history of NTBR, but has gone into oblivion for over two decades as a result of a dispute in the family. It lies in a dilapidated shed without renovation.
Ambedkar
This boat upheld the hopes of thousands of underprivileged people with its water skills in a short span of time. The Ambedkar chundan built with SC/ST welfare fund in 1992 made its debut in the 1994 edition of NTBR. Later, it won several titles in Thrissur, Karuvattta, Pulinkunnu and Kandassamkadavu. Since 1996, the club has got no financial assistance from the government. In 2008, the government sanctioned Rs 6 lakh to rebuild it and promised an additional Rs 3.5 lakh. When it was dismantled, the funds were not released. In 2008, the then district collector V.K. Balakrishnan tried to revive the chundan, but his successors did not take any follow-up measures.
Nadubhagom
Nadubhagom chundan thrilled the then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter Indira Gandhi in 1952 with a spectacular race in the first Prime Minister’s trophy. Sixty-five years later, the history-maker lies abandoned near Nadubhagom.
After its last race five years ago, it has been kept in a dilapidated shed which was damaged when trees fell on it in the monsoon fury. The Nadubhagom chundan, which found a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest boat, has been idling after the villagers built a new boat a few years ago. It was rebuilt many times since 1952, but its central plank, which was touched by Nehru, was never changed.
