Nehru Trophy 2025: A behind-the-scenes look at how teams prepare for Kerala’s biggest boat race

A 15-year veteran of boat races, Kumar said he and his teammates are confident of unseating the reigning champions, Pallathuruthy Boat Club (PBC), who will be taking to the waters of the Punnamada Lake for their sixth consecutive Nehru Trophy.

“For the past 45 days, we have undertaken rigorous practice, which includes both rowing and strength and conditioning training. There are two rounds of rowing practice, once in the morning and once in the evening. In total, we train for around four hours every day,” Kumar told indianexpress.com.

Nehru Trophy, which dates back to 1952 and commemorates Jawaharlal Nehru’s first visit to Kerala (Photo: Tibin Augustine)

Boat race in Kerala

Boats have always been a part of life in Kuttanad, the rice bowl of Kerala, spread across Alappuzha, Kottayam, and Pathanamthitta districts, but the backwaters turn into battlefields this time of the year with the snakeboat races. The snakeboats, called Chundanvallam, or just Chundan in Malayalam, are mostly owned by an entire village, and local boat clubs fight it out in the waters for supremacy. Every snakeboat has around 100 men on board during the race, out of which 80-90 are oarsmen.

Pallathuruthy Boat Club is looking to win their sixth consecutive Nehru Trophy. (Photo: Pallathuruthy Boat Club)

Nehru Trophy Boat Race

While there are several boat races every year, the most high-profile one is the Nehru Trophy, which dates back to 1952 and commemorates Jawaharlal Nehru’s first visit to Kerala. The winners are awarded a snakeboat-shaped silver trophy, which bears the signature of Nehru.

In the seven decades, Nehru Trophy has become an annual fixture, not just for the people of Kuttanadu, but for boat race fans across Kerala, where generations grew up, listening to the live commentary of the race on All India Radio (AIR), long before there was live TV and social media live broadcasts.

This year, a total of 21 snakeboats are in the race for the Nehru Trophy.

In its 70-year history, UBC Kainakary has been the most successful team, lifting the trophy twelve times, while Karichal Chundan has the most trophies as a boat.

Each snakeboat will have around 80-90 oarsmen (Photo: Pallathuruthy Boat Club)

45 days of intense training

This year, too, the team PBC has been pouring their hearts out since mid-July as they prepare for the event.

“Our practice sessions concluded on Thursday and Friday is a rest day for the team before the day of the competition. We are going for a double hat-trick,” Vivekanandan, the Treasurer of PBC, told indianexpress.com.

“For the team members, the day starts at around 6 am, with the warm-up exercises and gym before they get on the boats. The rowing practice happens both in the morning and evening, and the entire team has been staying and practising together in the camp since July 18,” he said.

Like other village-based boat clubs, the majority of PBC’s players are from Pallathuruthy and nearby villages. Each of them gets paid Rs 50,000 for their Nehru Trophy participation. In addition to the oarsmen, the club also has to pay the coaches and other support staff.

Teams spend Rs 1.5 crore a year

According to Vivekanandan, the club spends around Rs 40,000 a day just on food for the 125 members of its rowing team.

That is just one part of the expense every boat club incurs in its quest for the trophy. According to Vivekanandan, in 2024, PBC spent around Rs 1.25 crore for the Nehru Trophy alone.

Abhilash Ashokan, the secretary of PBC, said that in 2025, their expenses are likely to be more than Rs 1.5 crore.

“We raise the funds through donations, sponsorship, and payments from the boats. Since the boat club belongs to the village, we also raise funds from the villagers,” he said.

Growing cost a worry for clubs

While winning the Nehru Trophy brings immense joy to the club and the village, Ashokan said the prize money doesn’t even cover a fraction of the cost they incur.

“The Nehru Trophy winner gets a cash award of Rs 9 lakhs, out of which, after tax deductions, is just around Rs 6.3 lakhs. As you can see, this is not viable in the long run, and only with more government support can clubs continue to participate in the Nehru Trophy,” he said.

This, however, is not affected the fighting spirit of the teams and the thousands of fans who converge on the banks of the Punnamada Lake, to cheer the their favourite teams on Saturday.