Kerala’s greenery is probably the most attractive feature of the “God’s Own Country”, but you may fall short of words when it comes to expressing your boat cruise experience on the backwaters of Kerala. Mirror still lagoons, picture book lake sides, palm-fringed canals and tiny shimmering rivulets-a few words to describe Kerala’s backwater. The backwater presents excellent opportunities for Keralites to the Nehru Trophy Boat Race at Alleppey, the Rajiv Gandhi Boat Rice, the Indira Gandhi Boat Rice at Kochi and the Aranmula Uthritadi Boat race. These have become major tourist events, attracting visitors from both India and abroad. Besides these big boat races, hundreds of colorful regattas are held on different lake and inlets. In August and September coastal Kerala reverberates with the gentle melody and foot-stamping rhythm of the age old strains of boatmen-the famed boat songs (vanchipattu) charging the entire atmosphere with thrill and excitement.