Until relatively recently, apart from climbing and trekking in the Himalayas, and some white water rafting, mainly on the Ganges River, India was not known internationally as an ‘adventure destination’. But that is starting to change, and there is now a growing interest in a variety of adventure sports across India, and something that is really starting to take off is white water kayaking.

1. KAYAKING IN KERELA
THE MALABAR RIVER FESTIVAL by Sarah Kingdom
Until relatively recently, apart from climbing and trekking in the Himalayas,
and some white water rafting, mainly on the Ganges River, India was not known
internationally as an ‘adventure destination’. But that is starting to change, and
there is now a growing interest in a variety of adventure sports across India, and
something that is really starting to take off is white water kayaking.
I have just returned home from a month in India, where I spend a lot of time
every year, predominantly in the mountains climbing. I had gone to climb and
guide in the Himalayas in
Ladakh, in the north of the
country. After a rainy and
snowy climb I decided it
was time to head down to
the south of India for some
warmth. So after a thirteen
hour, frankly slightly
terrifying, drive through
the night from Leh (the
capital of Ladakh) to Srinagar (the capital of Jamu and Kashmir) on mountain
roads with sheer vertical drops just inches from the wheels of the vehicle, I
boarded a flight to Delhi and then flew down to Kozhikode (formally known as
Calicut) in Kerela.
I had some friends taking part in the inaugural Malabar River Festival, a white
water kayaking festival and first of its kind event in India. The festival consisted
of a series of downriver extreme adventure races, being held in the small town of
Kodenchery, Kerala on the Chalipuzha and Iruvanjhipuzha Rivers. I have to say,
as a person who, before now, hardly knew the front end of a kayak from the back,
it was an amazing few days, with a great crowd of people who are both

2. passionate and excited about their
sport.The overall aim of the festival was to
both promote kayaking in the south on
India, and also to highlight Kerela as an
adventure tourism destination. It also
became rapidly clear, that the aim of the
bulk of the participants, who had come
from all over India and indeed from all over
the world, was to have a good time… and
this they certainly did. It was a great bunch
of people who, despite my total ignorance
of their sport, welcomed me with open
arms, and made me feel just like one of the
group. I pretty quickly found myself volunteering (or being volunteered, I’m still
not sure which!) to help out behind the scenes. Though somehow along the way,
this ceased to be ‘behind the scenes’ and I found myself up on stage with a
microphone in my hand for the two days of the festival, doing ‘commentating’,
making general announcements and then finally, just as I thought my ‘job’ was
done, being talked into announcing the winners during the prize giving
ceremony; during which, I might add, I felt decidedly under dressed in my
scruffy shorts, standing amongst the various dignitaries, including the State
Minister for Tourism, all dressed is saris and formal attire.
The Western Ghats of Kerela are an amazing
mountain range that runs for hundreds of kilometers
along the western coast of India and are the source of
numerous river systems, many as yet unexplored by
white water kayakers. A group of white water
kayakers from Bangalore and Chennai, going by the
name Southern River Runners, got together and have
worked as pioneers of the sport in India’s south,
battling everything from the lack of decent kayaking
equipment available in India, to general ignorance and

3. apathy from various officials, who have frequently tried to hinder kayakers from
exploring the rivers of Karnataka. Indeed there are recent reports of a forestry
official actually arresting and threatening to detain a group of kayakers who
were running a non-commercial trip on a river that is used by commercial rafting
companies. Fortunately though, district officials in Kerala saw the tourism and
commercial potential for white water kayaking in the district, and so were very
supportive of the idea of the Malabar River Festival, which was six months in the
planning and was inaugurated by the State Minister for Tourism.
During my days at the river I had a crash course in all things white water
kayaking; and can now relatively
confidently impart the following
information, of primary interest to
actual kayaking readers I’m sure; that
the festival had a race launch ramp,
the first ever to be used in India;
twenty entrants in the pro category
and ten entrants in the beginners
category who came from all over India, the UK, USA, Italy, Denmark and Nepal,
and that there were races ranging from a challenging slalom course with 9 gates
(3 upstream and 6 downstream), to an individual down river race on the Class
IV+ Iruvanjhipuza River. There was even a women’s race, which, from my
vantage point on the stage, I saw drew a great deal of attention both from the
male spectators who were amazed at the skill and speed of the female
competitors, and from the women spectators who had never before seen such a
thing, let alone contemplated actually getting in a kayak themselves. There were
monetary prizes for all races and the grand prize winner of the day, a young
Indian kayaker, from Rishikesh on the Ganges River, was crowned the ‘River
Raja’, paraded around on an elephant and took home considerable prize money.

4. The organisers of the event, had estimated an original audience attendance of
roughly 1,500 people, but to everyone’s surprise there were over 5,000 people
who turned out to watch this novel event. This has led to the sanctioning of a
Kerala Kayaking Academy, to be built to promote local interest and talent. The
festival will run again next year between sometime between the 15th
and 30th
July, and it is hoped to increase the number of participants to 50. I’ve been
invited back next year to make myself useful with the microphone again and, just
possibly, I might even be enticed into a kayak and out onto the river.

5. The Malabar River Festival (www.malabarfestival.in) was organized by
Madras Fun Tools
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