Indian Navy inducts historic ship ‘Kaundinya’ built using ancient techniques

KARWAR: The Indian Navy on Wednesday inducted INSV Kaundinya, a ship reconstructed using ancient shipbuilding techniques, into its fleet at the Karwar Naval Base.

The ceremony was led by Union Minister of Tourism and Culture, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and was attended by Vice Admiral Rajaram Swaminathan, Controller of Warship Production and Acquisition (CWP&A), Rear Admiral K M Ramakrishnan, Flag Officer, Karnataka Naval Area, and other dignitaries.

#IndianNavy inducted the stitched sail vessel INSV Kaundinya at Karwar.
The vessel is a recreation of a 5th century CE Ajanta painting using traditional methods.
Hon’ble Minister of Culture Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat presided over the ceremony.@MinOfCultureGoI @gssjodhpur… pic.twitter.com/6sVRpesUzO

— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) May 21, 2025

According to a release, INSV Kaundinya is a stitched sail ship, based on a 5th century CE design depicted in the paintings of Ajanta Caves. The project was initiated 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.

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 Shri 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 2025 at Goa.

INSV Kaundinya with her sails up. The “Gandaberunda” or two headed bird was the royal insignia of the Kadamba kingdom who ruled the Konkan coast for centuries. Appropriate as the ship was built in Goa and inducted in Karwar pic.twitter.com/XDkWq2rZTp

— Sanjeev Sanyal (@sanjeevsanyal) May 21, 2025

Speaking at the event, Union Minister of Tourism and Culture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said, “It is a historic and important day. India’s ancient maritime capabilities and ship-building skills have been revived. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Economic Adviser, Sanjeev Sanyal was the first to research this. Reconstructed from a 5th-century Ajanta painting, the ship was built using the ancient stitching technique. No screws have been used in its construction and has been built by the only remaining family who know this art. This is not just an ancient technique of ship-building, but a resurgence of Indian history. I feel blessed to be here. Such a legacy ship can be used for tourism in the future”.

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.

A historic moment for Bharat and our civilisational pride.

Presided over the induction ceremony of the Ancient Stitched Ship INSV Kaundinya at Karwar Naval Base today—an extraordinary recreation of a 5th-century vessel, inspired by Ajanta murals and handcrafted by Kerala’s… pic.twitter.com/YonXLLKl81

— Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (@gssjodhpur) May 21, 2025

The newly inducted vessel incorporates several culturally significant features. Her sails display motifs of the Gandabherunda and the Sun, her bow bears a sculpted Simha Yali , and a symbolic Harappan style stone anchor adorns her deck, each element evoking the rich maritime traditions of ancient India. 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.

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. (ANI)