On Monday afternoon, a pilot craft slowly backed off the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) jetty in the Porbandar district of Gujarat, towing the Indian Naval Sailing Vessel (INSV) Kaundinya out to sea, to the tune of “Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire played by the Naval band.
The two-masted sailboat with a specially trained crew will make its maiden voyage to Muscat, in the Sultanate of Oman, retracing the historic maritime routes that connected India with the wider Indian Ocean world for millennia.
At the launch ceremony, the Guest of Honour, Issa Saleh Abdullah Alshibani, the Omani Ambassador to India, spoke of historical and cultural ties between the two nations and peoples. He was joined by Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan, the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC-IN-C) of the Western Naval Command, as well as Rear Admiral Sritanu Guru, Flag Officer Commanding of the Gujarat Naval Area, among other senior naval officers.
Here is all you need to know about INSV Kaundinya.
Inspiration and collaborators
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 in July 2023 through a tripartite agreement signed by the Ministry of Culture, the Indian Navy, and Hodi Innovations, with funding from the Ministry of Culture.
The ship, which embodies India’s historic role as a maritime nation, is named after the legendary mariner Kaundinya, who is believed to have sailed from India to Southeast Asia in ancient times.
Its sails display motifs of the Gandabherunda and the Sun, the 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.
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Facilities aboard Kaundinya
Sanjeev Sanyal, a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, who first pitched the idea of a stitched ship, listed the day-to-day facilities, food, and other arrangements aboard the vessel in a thread on X. He also noted the few modern devices the vessel will carry on its maiden voyage.
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Under the deck is a hold for storing supplies, and the crew will sleep in sleeping bags on the deck or below, depending on weather conditions. The crew will relieve themselves in a basket slung over the side of the vessel.
Regarding rations, Sanyal posted, “We are carrying some fresh vegetables that should last the first 5-6 days. Thereafter, it is dry rations and any fish we catch. Fresh water is rationed to 4.5 litres per person per day, including drinking, cooking, and washing. The cooking is on an outdoor stove (the wooded casing has been painted with a fire retardant to make it safe and metal holder inserted to keep the utensil from getting knocked over by the rolling ship).”
Timeline: Conception to casting off
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Here is a detailed timeline of INSV Kaundinya from conception to its lines being cast off, stitched together from various official sources.
The concept of building and sailing a sailing vessel using ancient technologies was first proposed by Sanyal on December 17, 2021.
After two years of planning, the keel of the vessel was laid on September 12, 2023, and construction began using a traditional stitching method by a team of 20 skilled artisans from Kerala, led by master shipwright Babu Sankaran and stitcher Rejeesh, the last custodians of this ancient skill.
From September 2023 to February 2025, the ship took shape plank by plank, stitched and formed using techniques unchanged for centuries, as detailed on the X handle of the vessel.
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The ship was launched on February 26, 2025, in 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. It ensured that the design was validated through hydrodynamic model testing at the Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT Madras, and an internal technical assessment.
Hodi Innovations handed over the vessel to the Indian Navy on May 15, 2025.
On May 21, 2025, the Indian Navy formally inducted and named the Ancient Stitched ship as INSV Kaundinya at a ceremonial event held at Naval Base, Karwar.
