Vallam Kali or Vallamkali literally means boat race in Malayalam. It is the traditional boat (paddled war canoe) race in Kerala (a state in south India.)
It is mainly conducted during the season of the harvest festival Onam in autumn. Vallam Kali includes races of many kinds of traditional boats (paddled longboat) of Kerala. The race of Chundan Vallam (snake boat) is the major event. Hence Vallam Kali is also known in English as Snake Boat Race and now in recent years has become a major tourist attraction. Other types of boats which do participate in various events in the race are Churulan Vallam, Iruttukuthy Vallam, Odi Vallam, Veppu Vallam (Vaipu Vallam), Vadakkanody Vallam, Kochu Vallam. The Nehru Trophy vallamkali winner for the 2008 is Karichal Chundan (chundan = snake boat.
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