Indian Navy on Wednesday formally inducted and named the Ancient Stitched Ship as ‘INSV Kaundinya’ at a ceremonial event held at Naval Base, Karwar. Minister of Culture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat presided over the event marking the culmination of an extraordinary project that celebrates India’s rich shipbuilding heritage, defence ministry said here. Named after Kaundinya, the legendary Indian mariner who sailed across the Indian Ocean to Southeast Asia, the ship serves as a tangible symbol of India’s long-standing traditions of maritime exploration, trade and cultural exchange.
‘INSV Kaundinya’ is a stitched sail ship, based on a 5th century CE ship depicted in the paintings of Ajanta Caves. The project was initiated through a tripartite agreement signed in July 2023 between Ministry of Culture, the Indian Navy and M/s Hodi Innovations, with funding from Ministry of Culture.
Following the keel laying in September 2023 (the vessel’s construction was undertaken using a traditional method of stitching by a team of skilled artisans from Kerala, led by master shipwright Babu Sankaran. Over several months, the team painstakingly stitched wooden planks on the ship’s hull using coir rope, coconut fibre and natural resin. The ship was launched in February this year at Goa.
The Indian Navy played a central role in the project, overseeing the design, technical validation and construction process. With no surviving blueprints of such vessels, the design had to be inferred from iconographic sources.
The Navy collaborated with the shipbuilder to recreate the hull form and traditional rigging, and ensured that the design was validated through hydrodynamic model testing at the Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT Madras and internal technical assessment.
Inducted as an Indian Naval Sailing Vessel (INSV), — Kaundinya — will be based at Karwar. The ship will now embark on her next historic phase, involving preparations for a transoceanic voyage along the ancient trade route from Gujarat to Oman, scheduled for later this year.
The newly inducted vessel incorporates several culturally significant features. Its sails display motifs of the —Gandabherunda — and the Sun, her bow bears a sculpted — Simha Yali — , and a symbolic Harappan style stone anchor adorns its deck, each element evoking the rich maritime traditions of ancient India.