Team Goemkarponn
KARWAR: The Indian Navy formally inducted and named the ancient stitched ship as INSV Kaundinya at a ceremonial event held at the Naval Base in Karwar on Wednesday. Minister of Culture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat presided over the ceremony as the chief guest, marking the culmination of a unique project celebrating India’s maritime heritage.
INSV Kaundinya is a stitched sail ship, modelled on a 5th-century CE vessel depicted in the Ajanta cave paintings. The project was launched through a tripartite agreement signed in July 2023 between the Ministry of Culture, the Indian Navy, and M/s Hodi Innovations, with funding from the Ministry of Culture. After the keel was laid in September 2023, the vessel was constructed using a traditional stitching method by skilled artisans from Kerala, led by master shipwright Babu Sankaran. The wooden planks were stitched together using coir rope, coconut fibre, and natural resin. The ship was launched in February 2025 in Goa.
The Indian Navy played a pivotal role in the initiative, overseeing design, technical validation, and the construction process. With no surviving blueprints of such vessels, the design had to be reconstructed from iconographic sources. The Navy worked closely with the shipbuilder to recreate the hull form and traditional rigging, and validated the design through hydrodynamic testing at the Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT Madras, along with internal assessments.
INSV Kaundinya incorporates a number of culturally symbolic features. The sails bear the motifs of the Gandabherunda and the Sun, while the bow carries a sculpted Simha Yali. A Harappan-style stone anchor is also placed on the deck, each element reflecting India’s ancient maritime traditions.
Named after Kaundinya, the legendary Indian sailor who journeyed across the Indian Ocean to Southeast Asia, the ship stands as a tribute to the country’s age-old traditions of seafaring, trade, and cultural exchange.
Now inducted as an Indian Naval Sailing Vessel (INSV), Kaundinya will be based in Karwar. She will soon begin preparations for a transoceanic voyage along the ancient trade route from Gujarat to Oman, scheduled for later this year.
