Kerala is all set to begin its season of boat races adding to the beauty of its picturesque locations. The tradition boat race better known as Vallam Kali will commence from June 28. The coming months will witness many competitions in different districts in the state. Champakulam Moolam boat race which will mark the beginning will also have a police team, the first of its kind. The race will be held in Pamba river on Thursday.  You can watch live streaming of the boat race here.

The police team includes 130 oarsmen selected from different districts including Alappuzha, Kollam, Kottayam and Ernakulam. The team will contest in the Mahadevikad Kattilthekkethu chundan. Hundreds of oarsmen rowing through the waters with traditional boat songs being sun are a sight to watch.

According to a report in The Hindu, Moolam Race Committee chairman A.V. Murali said that there would be a total of 19 boats including six snake boats and 13 smaller boats. Snake boats that will contest in the Raja Pramukhan Trophy include Cheruthana chundan, Nadubhagam chundan, Karuvatta Sree Vinayakan, St. George chundan and Champakulam chundan.

At the general body meeting of the Nehru Trophy Boat Race Committee, finance minister TM Thomas Isaac said that cricketer Sachin Tendulkar would be attending the event. Races will be held in categories of veppu 'A' grade, veppu 'B' grade, iruttu kuthi 'A' grade and iruttu kuthi 'B' grade categories. Although Moolam Boat Race is a Hindu ritual, boat races in Kerala bring people of all religion together.

Watch the live streaming here:

Kerala Tourism Department announced that it would announce an Indian Premier League (IPL) a model boat race this year. The Kerala Boat Race League and Nehru Trophy Boat Race will be held on August 11 at Alappuzha's Punnamada Lake. The league will have 12 races, and Nehru Trophy Boat Race will decide it qualifying teams. The Nehru Trophy Boat Race will have 20 snake boats of which nine winning teams will qualify the next league.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 27, 2018 09:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).