The Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya displayed Chundan Vallam, a long snake boat of Kerala.

Chundan Vallam is a long snake boat made out of Anjali wood. The boat resembles a snake with its hood raised. This particular boat participated in the annual Vallam Kali festival (boat festival) for nearly 10 decades ago in Kerala. It is considered to be a prized object of IGRMS display because of its large size. This boat won several races, and was said to be blessed by the then Prime-Minister of India Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru during one of the annual boat festival in Aranmula, where he was the chief guest for the occasion, in 1960s.

One of the significant aspect attached with the snake boat is underlying in its transportation from its native place to IGRMS, Bhopal. The snake boat is brought from Patnamthitta district of Kerala without dismantling. It is a belief among the local community that being a form of Devi Laxmi they never allow to dismantle it. A combination of three truck trailer around 120ft long was used for its transportation. The local Malayalee community of Bhopal performed their traditional rituals for welcoming of snake boat at the time of its installation in IGRMS. The boat was earlier maintained as a community property, as a symbol of high esteem, by the villagers of Poovathoor in Pathanamthitta district as the first Prime Minister of India ferried in it for a while.

In this regard, Praveen Kumar Mishra, Director, IGRMS said that Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (National Museum of Mankind), Initially this series will focus on the masterpieces from its collection which are considered as unique for their contribution to the cultural history of a particular ethnic group or area.