The word Vallamkali translates simply as "boat play." The translation is almost comically inadequate. What it describes is a tradition where a hundred-foot war canoe built from ancient jackfruit timber, crewed by sixty-four to one hundred and twenty-eight oarsmen rowing in perfect synchrony to the rhythm of sacred songs, races across the same backwaters where it once carried soldiers into naval battle. Vallamkali is Kerala's boat race. It is also Kerala's most spectacular act of collective devotion — and one of the longest-running living water traditions in the world.

What Is Vallamkali — War Boats That Became Sacred Vessels

Vallamkali — Kerala's traditional Chundan Vallam snake boat race on the backwaters, with a full complement of oarsmen rowing in synchronised formation to the rhythm of Vanchippattu songs, one of the most spectacular living cultural traditions in South Asia
Vallamkali in full flight — a Chundan Vallam with its characteristic raised prow, manned by rows of synchronised oarsmen in white, powering through Kerala's backwaters. The raised stern, covered in decorative umbrellas and flags, is characteristic of the Palliyodam tradition. Photo: Anjali1840723, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Kerala's coastline and backwater network made it, for most of its history, a civilisation oriented around water. The same waterways that carry tourist houseboats today carried trade goods, military forces, and temple offerings for centuries before them. It is not surprising, then, that the most powerful expression of Kerala's community identity takes place on water — that the boat became both the instrument of competition and the vehicle of devotion.

Vallamkali traces its documented origins to the early 13th century, during the era of feudal kingdoms like Kayamkulam and Chembakassery, which competed for territorial control of Kerala's river and lake systems. King Devanarayana of Chembakassery commissioned the construction of the first Chundan Vallam — a long, narrow war canoe designed for speed, manoeuvrability, and the capacity to carry fighting men quickly across open water. The boats were military instruments before they were festival objects. Their speed, their precision, and the extraordinary coordination they demanded from their crews were originally developed in the service of warfare.

As the political landscape of Kerala stabilised, the war canoes were repurposed. The competitive instinct they had been built to serve found expression in organised races rather than naval battles. Communities that had once competed for territory competed instead for the trophy. The boats remained. The urgency remained. Only the stakes changed.

The Oldest Surviving Chundan Vallam

The Parthasarathi Chundan — owned by and still raced at the Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple — is recognised as the oldest surviving model of the Chundan Vallam. It is a direct physical link to the tradition's origins, maintained through centuries of careful village stewardship. The boat's continued use in the annual Aranmula Vallamkali means that a 13th-century design still races on Kerala's waters every Onam season. See our related article on the Aranmula Kannadi for the town's other extraordinary heritage tradition.

The Chundan Vallam — Understanding the Snake Boat

Alappadan Chundan Vallam — a Kerala snake boat from Alappuzha with its characteristic long narrow hull and dramatically raised snake-hood prow, showing the boat's formidable scale and the traditional decorative elements including the ceremonial canopy and flag arrangements that distinguish Chundan Vallam from other boat types
Alappadan Chundan Vallam — the classic Kerala snake boat, its length (typically over 100 feet), narrow beam, and dramatically raised snake-hood prow immediately distinguishable from any other watercraft. This boat type, originating as a 13th-century war vessel, is now the centrepiece of Kerala's most celebrated water festivals. Photo: Varghesepunnamada, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Chundan Vallam — Key Figures
Length 100+ feet
Oarsmen 64 – 128
Primary Wood Anjili (Jackfruit)
Hull Treatment Fish oil + ash + eggs
Ownership Single village / deity

The Chundan Vallam (ചുണ്ടൻ വള്ളം) takes its popular name — "snake boat" — from its most distinctive visual feature: a dramatically raised prow that curves upward and forward, resembling the raised hood of a cobra. The comparison is not merely aesthetic. In Kerala's cultural vocabulary, snakes are sacred — vehicles of divine energy, guardians of temples and ancestral homes. A boat shaped like a snake's hood is not just a hydrodynamic design choice. It is a statement about what the boat is and what it carries.

The construction of a Chundan Vallam is a months-long process, traditionally carried out by specialist carpenters whose skills pass within families across generations. The primary wood is Anjili — a jackfruit variety known for its density, water resistance, and structural integrity. The hull is precisely shaped, then treated with a mixture of fish oil, coconut shell ash, and eggs — a traditional waterproofing compound that reduces water absorption and creates a slicker surface. Annual maintenance is the village carpenter's responsibility. Annual racing is the village's collective pride.

Each Chundan Vallam is owned by a single village — and in much of Kerala's boat race tradition, the boat is not merely the village's property but its representative deity. Men approaching the boat must be barefoot. The boat is maintained according to protocols that mix practical carpentry with ritual observance. When a village's boat wins, the entire village wins. When it loses, the entire village feels it. This communal identification with the boat is the engine of Vallamkali's emotional intensity — the reason a hundred-foot racing canoe can fill a stadium with the kind of noise usually reserved for cricket finals.

All Boat Types in Kerala's Vallamkali Tradition

Chundan Vallam — Snake Boat
ചുണ്ടൻ വള്ളം

The iconic racing war canoe, 100+ feet long, 64–128 oarsmen, with the characteristic raised cobra-hood prow. Made from Anjili wood. The centrepiece of the Nehru Trophy and all major competitive races. Each boat owned by and identified with a single village.

Palliyodam — Sacred Snake Boat
പള്ളിയോടം

The sacred variant specific to Aranmula — larger and taller than standard Chundan Vallam, allowing up to 15 people to stand in the centre. Considered direct embodiments of Lord Krishna. Their design encodes Vedic cosmology (Navagraha, four Vedas, 64 art forms). Used exclusively in the Aranmula Vallamkali ritual procession.

Churulan Vallam — Curled Boat
ചുരുളൻ വള്ളം

Smaller, agile boats typically propelled with poles rather than oars, traditionally associated with wealthy individuals for personal travel. Their curling prow design is distinct from the Chundan Vallam's raised hood. They participate in some Vallamkali events as supplementary categories.

Iruttukuthi Vallam — Northern Arrow Boat
ഇരുട്ടുകുത്തി വള്ളം

Known as "Vadakkan Oddy" — faster than Chundan Vallam, historically used by pirates for their speed and low water noise. In the Kumarakom Sree Narayana Guru Jayanthi Boat Race, Iruttukuthi boats are more prominent than snake boats, reflecting the regional variation in boat race traditions.

Odi Vallam — Speed Boat
ഓടി വള്ളം

Lightweight, fast vessels designed specifically for smaller, competitive races. Their reduced size makes them more manoeuvrable on narrower waterways. They typically participate in regional races that cannot accommodate the full scale of Chundan Vallam.

Thekkan Oddy — Southern Company Boat
തെക്കൻ ഓടി

A distinctive hybrid form — the nose of a Churulan Vallam combined with the stern of a Chundan Vallam — and notably reserved exclusively for women's boat races. An elegant design that signals a specific social category of racing, celebrating women's participation in Vallamkali.

Aranmula Vallamkali — The Race That Is a Prayer

The Melukara Palliyodam gliding through the Pampa River to attend the Aranmula Valla Sadya — these sacred snake boats are distinct from other Chundan Vallam in their taller structure, Vedic symbolism, and status as direct embodiments of Lord Krishna, participating in Kerala's most ritually significant water procession during Onam.
Aranmula Valla Sadya and Melukara Palliyodam on the Pampa River — the sacred Palliyodams of Aranmula, far more than racing boats, are considered to embody Lord Krishna himself. Their taller structure, Vedic design symbolism (nine golden Navagraha figures at the stern; 64 oarsmen for the 64 art forms; four helmsmen for the four Vedas), and ritual protocols distinguish them entirely from competitive snake boats. This is a devotional procession, not a race. Photo: Alenalexp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Aranmula Vallamkali is not, strictly speaking, a race in the competitive sense — though it involves boats moving on water in organised procession. It is a ritual offering, held annually on the Uthrittathi asterism day (the star marking the anniversary of the idol's consecration at the Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple) during the Onam season. Understanding Aranmula Vallamkali requires understanding what the Palliyodams are, and what they are protecting.

The Legend of the Thiruvonathoni — The Night the Bandits Stopped the Feast

The Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple is one of five temples in Kerala believed to have been built by the Pandava prince Arjuna in gratitude for divine assistance during the Kurukshetra war. The temple's presiding deity is Lord Krishna in his form as Parthasarathy — Arjuna's charioteer and guide. Every year, on Thiruvonam (the Onam festival's main day), a devout Brahmin named Mangatt Bhattathiri vowed to provide all the provisions for the Vallasadya feast (the Thiruvona Sadya) to the deity — a magnificent spread of Kerala's finest vegetarian cooking, prepared as a direct offering to Lord Krishna.

One year, the boat carrying the feast's provisions — the Thiruvonathoni (Sacred Thiruvonam Boat) — was attacked by bandits en route to the temple. The boat was laden with precious cargo: the food meant for the god. Its capture would not merely rob the temple of provisions — it would break a sacred vow. What happened next is the foundation of Aranmula Vallamkali: Palliyodams from neighbouring karas (villages) rushed to the Thiruvonathoni's defence, forming a protective escort that drove off the attackers and delivered the feast safely to the temple.

That act of communal protection — neighbours from different villages coordinating to defend a sacred obligation — is what the Aranmula Vallamkali commemorates every year. The Palliyodams' annual procession on the Pampa River on Uthrittathi day re-enacts the protective escort. Each Palliyodam that glides past the temple is repeating the gesture its ancestors made centuries ago: we are here, and the sacred feast is safe.

The Palliyodam's Symbolic Design — A Boat That Is a Cosmology

Design Element Physical Feature Symbolic Meaning
Nine Golden Figures Nine golden figurines attached to the stern The Navagraha — the nine celestial bodies of Vedic cosmology (Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu, Ketu)
Sixty-Four Oarsmen 64 paddlers in the main body of the boat The 64 traditional art forms of Kerala (Chatushshashti Kalakal) — painting, sculpture, music, dance, martial arts, and more
Four Helmsmen Four rear helmsmen controlling the boat's direction The four Vedas — Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda, Atharvaveda — the foundational scriptures of Hindu tradition
Snake Form The boat's elongated body and raised prow Ananthan — the cosmic serpent on whom Lord Vishnu/Mahavishnu reclines in the Ananthashayanam posture; the Palliyodam carries the divine in the posture of divine rest
Centre Standing Space A taller, wider central section allowing 15 people to stand The sanctum — the space where the divine is present, distinguished from the oarsmen's sections as a temple's inner sanctum is distinguished from its outer halls
Ritual Barefoot Protocol All entering the boat must remove footwear The boat is a temple — footwear is removed in temples as a mark of respect for sacred ground. The Palliyodam is sacred ground on water.

Every Major Kerala Boat Race — A Complete Guide

Kumarakom Vallam Kali on the Vembanad Lake — the annual boat race at Kumarakom commemorating Sri Narayana Guru's 1903 visit to establish a school, where Iruttukuthi boats take greater prominence than snake boats, one of Kerala's most distinctively structured boat race traditions
Kumarakom Vallam Kali — one of Kerala's major boat races, commemorating Sri Narayana Guru's 1903 visit to Kumarakom to consecrate an idol and establish a school. Unlike the Nehru Trophy and Aranmula, the Kumarakom race gives greater prominence to Iruttukuthi (speedboat) categories, reflecting the distinct regional tradition of this event. Photo: Tonynirappathu, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Nehru Trophy Boat Race — Alappuzha
Punnamada Lake · Second Saturday of August, annually

The most famous, the most competitive, the one that fills Punnamada Lake with tens of thousands of spectators. The Nehru Trophy has no religious or ritual origin — which is itself unusual among Kerala's boat races. It was born from a spontaneous act of hospitality in 1952, when Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru visited Alappuzha and the local community organised an impromptu snake boat race in his honour. Nehru, who was reportedly moved to tears by what he witnessed, donated a silver trophy on the spot, creating an annual tradition that has not missed a year since. The race features Chundan Vallam in its main event alongside multiple other boat categories. Its purely competitive character — no temple, no legend, no sacred escort — makes it the event where the athletic aspect of Vallamkali is most purely expressed.

Aranmula Vallamkali — Aranmula, Pathanamthitta
Pampa River · Uthrittathi asterism day during Onam (August–September), annually

The most ancient, the most sacred, and the most culturally layered. Not a competitive race but a ritual procession of Palliyodams commemorating the rescue of the Thiruvonathoni feast boat. The race day begins with the Palliyodams receiving purification rituals and blessings at the Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple. Oarsmen, dressed in traditional white attire, enter the temple, offer paddy, tobacco, and betel leaves to the deity, circumambulate the temple singing Vanchippattu, and then place their oars and decorated umbrellas as offerings before the main entrance. The race itself is a procession of devotion — the competitive element is secondary to the ritual function. If you attend one Vallamkali in your lifetime, the Aranmula race is the one that carries you furthest back into what this tradition actually means.

Champakulam Moolam Boat Race — Alappuzha
River Pamba · Moolam day in Midhunam (June/July), annually

One of the oldest boat races in Kerala, the Champakulam Moolam Race commemorates a specific historical event: the transportation of the idol of Lord Krishna to the Ambalappuzha Sree Krishna Swamy Temple. According to the legend, the idol — believed to have been given to Arjuna by Lord Krishna himself — was being transported by boat when the travelling party took shelter overnight at a Christian household in Champakulam to avoid bandits. The race honours this event, and its origin story is remarkable for what it reveals about historical Kerala: a Hindu idol protected overnight in a Christian home, the communal harmony of that act commemorated in an annual festival. This is the kind of layered history that Kerala's boat races preserve.

Payippad Jalotsavam — Alappuzha (Haripad)
Payippad Lake · Onam season (August/September), three days

The Payippad Jalotsavam is a three-day water festival commemorating the discovery and installation of the deity at the Haripad Subrahmanya Swamy Temple. A divine vision directed devotees to recover an idol from Kayamkulam lake, and they brought it to its temple by ceremonial boat, escorted by other devotees. The festival recreates this original escort. Unlike the Nehru Trophy's purely competitive format or Aranmula's ritual procession, Payippad Jalotsavam is genuinely festive — a three-day water carnival that combines boat processions, competitive racing, and communal celebration in equal measure.

Kumarakom Sree Narayana Guru Jayanthi Boat Race — Kottayam
Vembanad Lake · September, coinciding with Sri Narayana Guru Jayanthi

This race commemorates the 1903 visit of Sri Narayana Guru — Kerala's greatest social reformer — to Kumarakom, where he arrived by boat to consecrate an idol and establish a school. The race is preceded by a grand procession of country boats carrying a portrait of Guru, recreating the enthusiastic community welcome he received. What distinguishes the Kumarakom race from most others is that Iruttukuthi (fast speed) boats take greater prominence than Chundan Vallam — a distinctive regional characteristic that reflects the specific community traditions of Kuttanad's water culture.

Kallada Jalotsavam — Kollam (Munroe Thuruthu)
Kallada River · 28th day after Onam (28th Onam), annually

One of Kerala's most comprehensively inclusive boat races — almost all famous snake boats participate in the Kallada Jalotsavam, making it a gathering of Kerala's entire boat racing community on the Kallada River. Organised primarily for tourism promotion and water sports development while explicitly preserving traditional forms, the race concludes with the Kallada rolling trophy and cash prizes. Its post-Onam timing (28 days after the festival) makes it a coda to the racing season — a final, festival-grade celebration before the backwaters return to their daily rhythms.

Vanchippattu — When the Songs Are Also Prayers

The most arresting thing about watching a Chundan Vallam race is not the boat's size or the oarsmen's coordinated power. It is the sound. One hundred and twenty-eight people, rowing in pairs, pulling their oars in perfect synchrony to a song that someone is singing at the front of the boat, with the entire crew echoing back. On open water, with no amplification and nothing to absorb the sound, the effect is something that language can only approximate. It fills the backwater.

Vanchippattu (വഞ്ചിപ്പാട്ട് — "boat song") is the musical tradition that makes this possible. It is a specific genre of Malayalam folk poetry composed in the Nathonnata vritham — a metre whose fast, rolling rhythm is designed to mimic and sustain the movement of rowing. The lead singer, called the Asan, chants each verse; the crew responds in unison. The call-and-response structure serves both musical and functional purposes simultaneously: the response keeps the crew's stroke precisely synchronised.

Vanchippattu's lyrical themes are broader than rowing coordination. The songs celebrate Lord Krishna — particularly his Parthasarathy form as Arjuna's charioteer — and the beauty of Kerala's backwaters. They narrate legendary tales, praise the valor of oarsmen, and in the specific context of the Aranmula Vallasadya feast, serve an extraordinary additional function: the oarsmen, through their Vanchippattu verses, theatrically request specific dishes from the feast spread. And those requests cannot be refused. Sacred protocol dictates that any dish requested through Vanchippattu must be served — because the belief is that Lord Krishna himself, present among the oarsmen, is making the request. To refuse would be to refuse God.

"Ramapurath Warrier's 'Kuchela Vritham Vanjippatt' was not simply a song about Krishna's childhood friend — it was Warrier's way of conveying his own poverty to the Travancore King through the medium of sacred verse. The King deciphered the hidden meaning and rewarded him. Vanchippattu has always carried more than it appeared to carry."

— KeralaFolklore.com, drawing from Vanchippattu scholarship

The Aranmula Vallasadya — The Feast That Feeds 200,000

No account of Aranmula Vallamkali is complete without its companion tradition: the Vallasadya feast — widely described as one of the largest vegetarian feasts in the world, serving an estimated two lakh (200,000) people annually at the Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple. The feast is the sacred obligation that the Thiruvonathoni was carrying when it was attacked. The boat race commemorates the rescue. The feast is what was rescued.

The Vallasadya (a term combining "Valla" — boat — and "Sadya" — feast) is an extraordinary culinary event by any measure: 60 to 70 traditional Kerala vegetarian dishes served on fresh plantain leaves, prepared entirely without onion or garlic (for spiritual purity), following a service protocol of remarkable sophistication that reflects millennia of understanding the relationship between food, the body, and digestion.

A selection of key dishes from the Vallasadya includes:

Parippu with Ghee
Thick lentil dish — the first curry served, mixed with clarified butter
Sambar
Lentil-vegetable stew with tamarind — served following parippu
Avial
Mixed vegetables in coconut-curd gravy — a sadya essential
Kaalan
Thick sour curry of curd, coconut, and raw banana or yam
Olan
Light dish of white gourd with coconut milk — among the most delicate on the leaf
Erissery
Pumpkin and black-eyed peas in roasted coconut — a Kuttanad speciality
Injipuli
Sweet-sour ginger-tamarind pickle — the feast's most distinctive flavour note
Ada Pradhaman
Rice flake payasam in coconut milk with jaggery — the sadya's defining sweet
Banana Chips
Kaya Varuthathu — the first food placed on the leaf; the meal begins here
The Vanchippattu Request Protocol

During the Vallasadya, oarsmen sing specific Vanchippattu verses requesting particular dishes from the feast. These requests must be honoured unconditionally — no dish, once requested through Vanchippattu, can be refused. The belief is that Lord Krishna is present among the oarsmen and is making the requests directly. To refuse is to refuse the deity. This transforms the act of serving food into a sacred dialogue between devotees and the divine. Read the complete guide to Aranmula Vallasadya for the full dish list and serving protocol.

What Vallamkali Actually Is — Community, Devotion, and the Defeat of Hierarchy

Every major account of Vallamkali notes that it fosters community unity — that during the races, caste distinctions and social hierarchies are temporarily set aside in the shared joy of competition and devotion. This observation is true but understates what is actually happening. The Chundan Vallam does not merely encourage community bonding. It structurally requires it. A hundred-foot racing boat with 128 oarsmen cannot move well unless every person in it is rowing to the same rhythm, with the same timing, with the same commitment.

The Chundan Vallam is, among other things, a very large practical demonstration that diverse people working with complete synchrony accomplish things none of them could approach alone. The boat race is a lived argument for collective effort — and it makes this argument loudly, visually, and spectacularly, on water, before tens of thousands of witnesses.

"The Chundan Vallam requires 128 people to become one movement. It does not tolerate individual performance. If one person rows wrong, the whole boat feels it. This is not a metaphor for community — it is the literal mechanics of community, expressed in wood and water."

Frequently Asked Questions — Kerala Boat Race

What is Vallamkali?
Vallamkali (വള്ളംകളി) literally means "boat play" — Kerala's traditional boat racing tradition originating in 13th-century naval warfare. The most iconic form features Chundan Vallam (snake boats) over 100 feet long, rowed by 64 to 128 oarsmen to Vanchippattu folk songs on Kerala's rivers and backwaters. Vallamkali encompasses both purely competitive events (Nehru Trophy) and sacred ritual processions (Aranmula Vallamkali). It is held primarily during the Onam season (July–September). See our broader Social Folklore page for context.
What is a Chundan Vallam?
Chundan Vallam (ചുണ്ടൻ വള്ളം — "snake boat") is Kerala's iconic racing war canoe, typically over 100 feet long, manned by 64 to 128 oarsmen. Its name comes from its raised cobra-hood prow. Made from Anjili (jackfruit) wood and treated with fish oil, coconut shell ash, and eggs, each boat is owned by a single village and treated with near-deity reverence — men must be barefoot aboard it. The Parthasarathi Chundan at Aranmula is the oldest surviving model, dating to the 13th century.
What is the Nehru Trophy Boat Race?
The Nehru Trophy Boat Race is Kerala's most famous competitive boat race, held annually on the second Saturday of August on Punnamada Lake, Alappuzha. It originated in 1952 when Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru donated a silver trophy after being moved by a spontaneous snake boat race held in his honour. Unlike the Aranmula race, it has no religious dimension — it is a purely competitive sporting event featuring Chundan Vallam and other boat categories. It attracts tens of thousands of spectators annually and is a major Kerala Tourism draw.
What is the Aranmula boat race?
The Aranmula Vallamkali is Kerala's most spiritually significant boat race — an annual ritual procession on the Pampa River held on the Uthrittathi asterism day during Onam. It commemorates the legendary rescue of the Thiruvonathoni (Sacred Feast Boat) from bandits by Palliyodams from neighbouring villages. The sacred boats (Palliyodams) receive temple blessings before the race; oarsmen make ritual offerings; and the event is understood as a devotional offering to Lord Krishna rather than competitive sport. See our full Aranmula heritage guide for the town's related Kannadi (mirror) tradition.
What is Vanchippattu?
Vanchippattu (వఞ్చిపాట్ — "boat song") is the traditional folk song genre sung during Kerala's boat races. Composed in the Nathonnata vritham (metre), led by an Asan with the crew responding in unison, these songs maintain rowing rhythm and motivate oarsmen. Lyrical themes include devotion to Lord Krishna, heroism, and local folklore. In the Aranmula context, oarsmen use Vanchippattu to request specific feast dishes — requests that cannot be refused as they are believed to come from Lord Krishna himself. Ramapurath Warrier is honoured as the Father of Vanchippattu.
What are Palliyodams?
Palliyodams (പള്ളിയോടം) are the sacred snake boats specific to Aranmula — larger and taller than standard Chundan Vallam, allowing up to 15 people to stand in the centre. Their design encodes Vedic cosmology: nine golden Navagraha figures at the stern; 64 oarsmen for Kerala's 64 art forms; four helmsmen for the four Vedas; and the snake form representing Ananthan, the cosmic serpent. Palliyodams are considered direct embodiments of Lord Krishna rather than mere vehicles. They participate exclusively in the Aranmula Vallamkali ritual procession, not competitive racing.

References & Image Credits

  1. 1Wikipedia. "Aranmula Boat Race." en.wikipedia.org.
  2. 2Wikipedia. "Palliyodam." en.wikipedia.org.
  3. 3Encyclocraftsapr. "Chundan Vallam: The Snake Boats of Kerala." encyclocraftsapr.com.
  4. 4ResearchGate. "Chundan Vallam: A documentation of indigenous materials and construction techniques." 2021. researchgate.net.
  5. 5Kerala Tourism. "Thiruvonathoni — A Night-Long Odyssey through the Pamba." keralatourism.org.
  6. 6Aranmula Palliyoda Seva Sangam. "Palliyodams — Aranmula Vallamkali." aranmulaboatrace.com.
  7. 7Muraleedharan, N. Aranmula Vallamkali. Rainbow, 2015.
  8. 8India International Centre. Water: Vanchipattu: Songs of the Boat Race in Kerala. Pearson India, 2009.
  9. 9Warrier, R. Kuchela Vrutham (Vanchippatu). D.C. Books.
  10. Img 1Anjali1840723. "Vallamkali." CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. vallamkali.jpg.
  11. Img 2Varghesepunnamada. "Alappadan Chundan." CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. alappadan-chundan.jpg.
  12. Img 3Alenalexp. "Aranmula Valla Sadya Melukara Palliyodam." CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. aranmula-valla-sadya-melukara-palliyodam.jpg.
  13. Img 4Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala. "Aranmula Boat Race." All rights reserved. aranmula-boatrace.jpg.
  14. Img 5Tonynirappathu. "Kumarakom Vallam Kali." CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. kumarakam-vallam-kali.jpg.