THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
UST Global, a leading digital transformation solutions company, announced its sponsorship of ‘Champakulam Chundan’, for the latest edition of Kerala’s most prestigious water sports event – the Nehru Trophy Boat Race for 2019. The event will witness the famous Champakulam Chundan sporting the UST Global logo for the race on August 10, 2019.
Champakulam Chundan is one of Kerala’s most celebrated snake boats and the pride of the Champakulam village in the Kuttanad backwaters. The latest avatar of the traditional snake boat has its predecessor, the original ‘Chundan’, displayed at the UST Global Thiruvananthapuram campus after it was retired in 2013. The snake boat which has been synonymous with speed, focus and excellence, has won the Nehru Trophy nine times between 1989 and 2014. The current snake boat is 131 feet in length, with its rear portion towering to a height of about 6 feet, and a long tapering towards the front-end. A team of 110 oarsmen on the boat competes against many similar snake boats on the day of the race for the coveted Nehru Trophy.
The Nehru Trophy Boat Race is held on the second Saturday of August every year, on the renowned Punnamada Lake in Alappuzha district of Kerala. The globally watched snake boat race, named after the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, attracts over five lakh spectators from India and around the globe, every year.
According to Sunil Balakrishnan, Global Head – Center Operations and Chief Values Officer, UST Global, “Champakulam Chundan has always been a proud mascot for Kerala, and by joining hands as a sponsor, we at UST Global, would take a step further in upholding the traditional ethos and draw inspiration from the spirit of competition and teamwork that the team and race are famous for. Our aim is to also provide support for the communities that are rebuilding itself after the devastating floods last year.”
