Aries Chundan – Kerala’s snake boat in the Guinness Records
Kerala’s first steel snake boat, Aries Chundan, entered the Guinness Book of World Records on 1 May 2008 for carrying 141 people on board. It also holds the record for the longest boat of its kind, at 144ft! It weighs 8 tonnes and is 5.74ft wide. This feat was realised on the Punnamada Lake in Alleppey – the houseboat capital of Kerala. The Aries Chundan was designed scientifically, based on naval ship designing. It belongs to hte Aries group of companies.
The Chundan Vallam gets its name from its pointed prow. Its English name ‘snake boat’ comes from the shape of its stern, which looks like a snake’s raised hood. Such boats have a history of more than 400 years, when they were used in battle by kings.
A normal wooden snake boat crosses the 1.4km route in under 5 minutes. But, the Aries built in steel, does the same in 4 minutes! Another record. The snake boat races held in Punnamada are world-famous and attract thousands of Indians and foreigners each year. People line the banks and backwaters to watch these man-machines in action.
