INSV Kaundinya

Why in News?

The Indian Navy's INSV Kaundinya has gone aboard on a journey from Porbandar in Gujarat to Muscat in Oman to test India's ancient seafaring traditions.

• Origin – INSV Kaundinya is a stitched sail ship built using techniques believed to have been used in India during the 5^th century CE.
• Launched in – February 2025 and formally inducted into the Navy in May at Karwar, Karnataka.
• Project Timeline – The project began in July 2023 through a joint agreement between the Ministry of Culture, the Indian Navy, and Hodi Innovations, with funding from the Ministry of Culture.
• Dimensions –
  • Length: 19.6 m
  • Width: 6.5 m
  • Draft: 3.33 m.
• It is powered completely by sails and carries a crew of about 15 sailors.
• Design & Testing – The design is based mainly on ships shown in the Ajanta cave paintings, along with descriptions from ancient texts and foreign travellers' accounts.
• It is recreated by the Navy, tested at IIT Madras for safety.
• Construction Team – A team of traditional craftsmen from Kerala, led by master shipwright Babu Sankaran, stitched the ship by hand.
• Construction Technique – The ship follows the Tankai method, a traditional Indian shipbuilding technique that avoids metal entirely.
• Materials used include –
  • Wooden planks.
  • Coir rope made from coconut fibre.
  • Natural resins and oils for waterproofing.
• Role – Although it belongs to the Indian Navy, INSV Kaundinya is not a combat vessel - it serves as a cultural and experimental craft reviving ancient maritime traditions.
• Symbols on INSV Kaundinya – It carries several cultural symbols linked to India's maritime past:
  • Gandabherunda, the two-headed eagle of the Kadamba dynasty
  • Sun motifs on the sails
  • Simha Yali, a mythical lion figure on the bow
  • A Harappan-style stone anchor on the deck.

• Name & Legacy – Named after Kaundinya, a 1st-century Indian mariner who sailed to the Mekong Delta, married Queen Soma, and helped establish the Kingdom of Funan in present‑day Cambodia.
• Significance – INSV Kaundinya voyage retraces the India–Oman sea trade corridor, revives spice/textile exchanges, showcases ancient maritime highways.

Reference

NDTV | INSV Kaundinya