Surat maintains its tradition of annual boat race(video)

By Tejash Modi, Surat 28 December 2011

It seems there’s somethig or other going on in every corner of Gujarat these days.

While you are seeing all that is happening in Gujarat on DeshGujarat, here is one more thing to see, and this one is from Surat.

A traditional boat race was held in Surat’s Hazira-Magdalla sea stretch on Sunday. 40-km long boat race is held every year during winter.

At around 3 pm when the boats returned from the race, dozens of people were standing on ONGC bridge to have a look at.

The winner team was awarded Rs 1 lakh price, and Indian cricket team player Munaf Patel was present to give away the prizes.

The competition started at 9.00 am from Hazira port and it ended at Magdalla at around 3.00 pm. In the final stage of the competition, 10 boats were prominently competing according to Vinod Shiva, one of the organizers.

While Kanu Narsinh Patel’s boat stood first, the other winners respectively were Bhikhu Hira Patel, Ranjit Dahya Patel and Jashwant Patel.

Such boat race is only held in Surat in south Gujarat. In Kutch, similar race is organized every year in sea near old Mundra port.