THE BRAMPTON BOAT RACE

Brampton Boat Race is one of the only such events that hosts the traditional Vallamkali in the whole of
North America. Brampton Malayalee Samajam was the first Malayalee Samajam in Canada to organize the real “Vallaumkali” in August 2009.

It brings alive the team spirit, integration, and amity of Brampton and boat racing teams from ‘Gods Own Country’- Kerala!

The Boat Races held since 2009 were roaring successes. The huge crowds that gathered to watch the races were thrilled by the magnificent fiesta that brought alive the tranquil backwaters of Heart Lake and Professors Lake.

For more information on boat race, please visit https://bramptonboatrace.ca/

HISTORY OF VALLAMKALI

The Nehru Trophy boat race is one of the most important sports events in Kerala, India. It takes place
at the Punnamada Lake in Alappuzha. Every year on the second Saturday of August. The
original trophy was donated by Indian Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru as a rolling trophy to be
presented to the the winner of the Snake Boat Races, after experiencingthe tremendous excitement of
sailing in a snake boat popularly known as “Chundan”.

The trophy is modelled on a snake boat made entirely in silver that is placed on a wooden platform on which
the following words of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru are inscribed above his signature:

“To the winner of the boat race, which is the unique feature of community life in Travancore-Cochin”.