Event Profile
The Payippad Boat Race is a spectacular event organized in the month of September each year. It is held in the Payippad Lake in the Alappuzha district of Kerala. This festival is celebrated in the commemoration of the installation of the idol at the Subramanyan Swamy Temple in Haripad. The legend behind this boat race festival is an interesting one. The residents of Haripad village decided to built a temple, with the presiding deity being Sree Ayyappa. Before the idol was installed the villagers had some kind of a prophetic revelation in which they were directed to install the idol of Sri Subramanya Swamy that could be found under a whirlpool in the Kayamkulam River. In obedience to the vision, divers and swimmers from the village rowed to the whirlpool and brought back the Subramanya vigrah in a boat. This idol was then installed in the temple, amid much jamboree. So in mark of respect to this legendary episode, Kerala Payippad Jalotsavam is conducted every year.
