Latest news with #INSVKaundinya
Time of India
07-06-2025
- General
- Time of India
A Stitch Across Centuries To Sail Across The Sands Of Time
The Goa-made stitched ship, Kaundinya, inducted by the Navy refutes the colonial claim that Europeans taught the world to sail. The vessel demonstrates how India built seaworthy ships thousands of years ago. A 15-member Navy crew is expected to take the motorless vessel to Muscat, following age-old trading routes In one quiet corner of Goa's Divar island, chisels ring out like ritual gongs. The thick scent of fish oil hangs in the air — acrid and unmistakable — seeping into skin, cloth, and memory. Woodchips carpet the floor, mingling with the discarded strands of coir rope, and somewhere in the din, the low murmur of Malayalam swirls between bursts of drilling and the slap of waves beating against timber. In the middle of it all, Babu Sankaran works quietly. His hands, callused by decades of labour, move out of muscle memory — steady, precise, unhurried. He crouches low, chipping away at a wooden pulley he has carved earlier with his hands. Sankaran wears what looks like the same overalls he had for years — frayed at the edges. Once a deep blue, it is bleached by sweat and sun into something paler. Navy's antique armour On May 21, when the yacht was commissioned and inducted into the Indian Navy, Sankaran stood on the pier to take in the INSV Kaundinya. The 20-metre wooden yacht is stitched together like a suit of wooden armour, lashed with coconut husk rope soaked in fish oil and tree sap called kundroos. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like A stress-relief game that everyone around me is playing Elvenar - Play on Browser Learn More Undo There are no nails. No bolts. Just knowledge passed from father to son, from generation to generation, now mostly forgotten. But now, that legacy will sail from the brink of oblivion to the centre of the international seafaring spotlight. The ship has no modern trappings, no creature comforts, and certainly no engine. After all, this is no ordinary ship. It is the result of a 'completely crazy project' dreamed up by a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, Sanjeev Sanyal. He was inspired by the painting of a 5th-century vessel painted onto the ancient rock walls of the Ajanta caves. Shipwrights and artisans use the 'I-X' pattern to stitch the planks together, similar to the cross-stitch technique in embroidery, where the 'I' represents a straight stitch and the 'X' represents a cross stitch India, a Sailing Guru A 15-member Navy crew will command the vessel — not with modern motors but under full cotton sails, aided only by winds and trailing oars, as it was done centuries ago. 'When we really attempt to sail it, we will have to really relearn the art of sailing the square, trailing oar, flexible hull ship, something that no living being knows how to do,' Sanyal said. 'This ship is a unique piece of equipment that we have not sailed before.' Indeed, the tradition defies time. Indian sailors have known for millennia how to read the monsoons and how to shape a hull that could rise with the tide and bend with the waves without breaking. 'We must challenge the narrative that Europeans taught the world to sail and travel,' said naval historian Commodore Srikant Kesnur (retd). 'This endeavour could be seen as the revival of cultural memories of India's maritime past. When the crew of this ship sails to various ports and nations, it will arouse curiosity and interest in the name of the ship, the unique form of the ship, and its link with civilisations of the past. ' Ancient ingenuity unsinkable 'This project is a resurrection of the past, a past that for the last 1,000 years was forgotten. It lived etched on coins, on paintings in caves… that ends now. We have India's own stitched ship,' said Prathmesh Dandekar, the managing director at Hodi Innovations, a shipyard at Divar. The Indian Navy and the Union ministry of culture jumped on board and roped in Hodi Innovations to turn the dream into a floating, ocean-going objective: retrace the maritime legacy of ancient Indian seafarers. 'If you see today, we don't have any written information about these kinds of boats. And unfortunately, we have not found any shipwrecks,' Dandekar said. 'So, the whole idea for us is to sail this ship on those ancient trade routes to showcase that back in the day, India could build seaworthy ships and was a big maritime power.' This vessel is expected to sail from Mandvi in Gujarat to Muscat in Oman, following the age-old trading routes that once ferried spices, ivory, cotton, and ideas across the Arabian Sea. Babu Sankaran, master craftsman of stitched ships, has been working on wooden ships for 45 years Rich travel history The art of stitching, with a rope and hands, kept the hull flexible — able to absorb the ocean's fury without splintering. In the ancient days, it allowed Indian ships to reach Arabia, East Africa, and Southeast Asia. That knowledge now rests in a handful of men like Sankaran — 61 years old, invisible in a crowd, his eyes trained to squint against the sun. 'At the age of 16, I went to Oman to work. I've been working on wooden ships for the past 45 years,' Sankaran said. 'There are others in my hometown of Vadakara in Calicut, but we are the last of this generation. This could well be the last ship I have stitched.' He runs his hand along the INSV Kaundinya as it lies moored at the Karwar naval base. Every knot is an act of remembrance of ancient techniques. Every pull of the coir rope is a tug — not just towards the ocean, but towards the past. Sankaran will soon fly to Abu Dhabi to work on another wooden dhow. 'They don't want a stitched ship. They will use nails,' he said. The INSV Kaundinya's voyage may be months away. But the journey has begun to reclaim old knowledge and to again value labour done by hand. The skill, once orally passed from father to son along the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel, is now documented for posterity.
The Hindu
24-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
INSV Kaundinya: Navy revives maritime heritage with stitched ship inspired by Ajanta mural
The Indian Navy has formally inducted the ancient-style stitched sail ship, naming it INSV Kaundinya, a vessel modelled on a 5th-century CE depiction of a ship in the Ajanta Caves. The induction ceremony took place on May 21, with officials stating that the Indian Naval Sailing Vessel (INSV) will be based in Karwar. The ship is named after the legendary mariner Kaundinya, who is believed to have sailed across the Indian Ocean to Southeast Asia. Navy officials said the vessel is emblematic of India's rich maritime traditions, symbolising centuries of exploration, trade, and cultural dialogue across the seas. The vessel will now prepare for a transoceanic voyage tracing an ancient maritime route from Gujarat to Oman, slated for later this year. Inspired by Ajanta's Maritime Imagery The inspiration for the vessel comes from Cave 2 at Ajanta in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad), part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Among the 30 rock-cut caves, six preserve murals from the early centuries of the Common Era. The mural in Cave 2 features a large merchant vessel with a high stem and stern, three oblong sails attached to masts, and steering oars. 'This is one of the earliest surviving paintings that narrates the tale of India's international sea trade,' said an official from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). 'It is a vivid testimony of ancient Indian maritime activity.' The Ajanta murals largely illustrate Jataka Katha (stories from the Buddha's past lives) and Avadana Katha (narratives of heroic virtue). Art historian Saili K. Palande-Datar, who has studied Ajanta for over a decade, identified the ship painting as part of the Purna Avadana, a mythical Buddhist narrative. The Tale of Purna and Bhavila 'The painting of the ship that inspired the design of Kaundinya is from Purna Avadana Katha,' Ms. Palande-Datar said. 'It is the story of two brothers, Purna and Bhavila, sons of a rich merchant and a slave woman from Shurparaka—modern-day Nalasopara, two hours from Mumbai.' Owing to their illegitimacy, the brothers were excluded from their father's inheritance. They took to maritime trade and became successful sea-faring merchants. After six successful voyages, Purna encountered traders from Shravasti, in ancient times the capital of the Kosala kingdom, is now located within present day Uttar Pradesh, who introduced him to Buddhism. 'Purna was deeply moved by their accounts of the Buddha and chose to stay back in the Konkan region, then called Sunaparanta, to spread the teachings of Buddhism,' said Ms. Palande-Datar. 'Meanwhile, Bhavila set out on a seventh voyage to the island of Goshaila, famed for its sandalwood.' As per the narrative, the island was guarded by a supernatural being, Maheshwarayaksha, who, angered by the tree-felling, summoned storms to destroy the ship. In desperation, Bhavila prayed to his brother. Purna miraculously appeared, saved the ship, and pacified the guardian spirit. 'This entire tale is depicted in the Ajanta mural and directly inspired the Navy's ship design,' she added. On returning to the western coast, the brothers are said to have built a vihara (monastery) from the sandalwood. 'It is said the Buddha was so impressed by Purna's devotion that he journeyed from Shravasti to Nalasopara to meet him,' Ms. Palande-Datar noted. 'These tales serve to reinforce the religious significance of the region.' Ajanta's Cultural Legacy The Purna Avadana mural, dated to the 5th century CE, is one of many intricate paintings at Ajanta that reflect India's classical age. Executed under the Vakataka dynasty - contemporaries of the Guptas - the murals depict royal courts, gardens, wildlife, and celestial beings such as Garudas and Nagas, showcasing the material and spiritual culture of the period. 'These murals were painted using natural colours derived from mineral stones,' Ms. Palande-Datar said. 'They capture the opulence, urbanity, and rich symbolism of what can rightly be termed a golden age of Indian civilisation.' With the commissioning of INSV Kaundinya, the Indian Navy has not only revived a historical shipbuilding technique but also paid homage to a long and storied maritime tradition embedded in India's civilisational memory.
Hindustan Times
23-05-2025
- General
- Hindustan Times
Painting of ‘merchant' ship at Ajanta Cave 17 inspired INSV Kaundinya: Expert
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, A painting of a 'merchant ship' at Ajanta Cave No. 17, indicating sea trade during the fifth century, inspired the Indian Navy's traditionally-built stitched vessel INSV Kaundinya, an expert has said. The Indian Navy on Wednesday inducted INSV Kaundinya, a recreation of a fifth-century vessel, named in honour of legendary Indian mariner Kaundinya, who once sailed across the Indian Ocean to Southeast Asia. An Archaeological Survey of India official, who is also an expert on the world-famous Ajanta caves, said, 'The ship depicted in Cave 17 resembles a merchant vessel, indicating the existence of maritime trade during the fifth century.' Another official described the artwork as one of the earliest surviving visual records of trade through the sea route from that era. 'We can identify details like a boat and a sail in this painting. That's why it was chosen for this project, he said. The late historian Walter Spink, in his book 'Ajanta: A brief history and guide', wrote about Cave 17. According to the book, its excavation was sponsored by Upendragupta , the feudatory ruler of the Ajanta. However, the work came to a halt after he was defeated by the Asmakas in 471 CE. Art historian Saili Palande-Datar linked this painting to the Purna Avadana, a narrative from Buddhist literature. She said several Ajanta caves feature paintings of ships. 'We can connect this particular ship with the Purna Avadana Katha. Purna and Bhavila brothers were sandalwood traders from Shurparaka . They made six sea voyages. While Purna embraced Buddhism and settled at Sopara, Bhavila made a seventh voyage to get sandalwood,' she told PTI. During the trip, Bhavila was stopped by a 'Yaksha' named Maheshwar, who tried to sink the ship, said the art historian. 'After Bhavila prayed to Purna, the latter appeared and saved him and the ship. Later, they created a 'vihara' out of sandalwood in Sopara. To meet them, Buddha is said to have come from Shravasti to Sopara. This is a mythical narrative which reflects the spread of Buddhism in Maharashtra's Konkan region,' she said.
India.com
22-05-2025
- General
- India.com
Meet INS Kaundinya – Indian Navy's Masterpiece Ship Without Weapons And Engines
New Delhi: The Indian Navy on May 21 brought back a vessel to its fleet that once lost to time. The hand-made one-of-a-kind wooden ship, INSV Kaundinya, is no ordinary vessel. It is a tribute to Kaundinya – one of India's earliest known ocean voyager. As legend suggests, he was a merchant who discovered a kingdom 2,000 years ego in Southeast Asia. The story starts along Mekong Delta – today's southern Vietnam. The ship of Kaundinya that was carrying Indian merchants came under attack by pirates. He was forced to beach the ship; and when he did it, he was surrounded by a group led by a warrior queen – Soma. The incident witnessed a dramatic twist wherein Soma fell in love with the brave mariner and tied knots with him. They together established the kingdom of Funan, which is considered to be the first in Southeast Asia. Centuries later, the Navy is perhaps reviving Kaundinya's legacy. The newly manufactured ship is the masterpiece of the old craftsmanship. Built using 1,500-year-old techniques, the vessel has been made without using a single nail. The artisans from Kerala have stitched its wooden planks together with coconut fibre, natural resin and coir rope. Like the ship once did when Indian traders sailed across the Indian Ocean to travel to Mesopotamia, Bahrain and Oman, etec., its square cotton sails catch the wind. Talking to The Indian Express, the man behing the revival, Sanjeev Sanyal, who is a member in the prime minister's economic advisory council, described Kaundinya as the 'first Indian mariner we knew by name to have changed history'. Though Indian trade through sea routes is as old as the Bronze Age, the names of only a few voyages survive. Preserved in Southeast Asian sources, Kaundinya's name is an exception. Since there are no records of drawing of his ship, hence this vessel has been designed as per a 5th century painting found in the Ajanta caves that are one among the earliest visual clues of what ancient ships may have looked like. For additional inputs, foreign travellers' account and ancient scripture such as Yuktikalpataru have been relied upon. The vessel is full of symbolism. Its sails feature the sun and the mythical two-headed eagle once used by the Kadamba dynasty – Gandabherunda. A mythical creature – Simha Yali – adorn the ship's bow. It even carries a Harappan-style stone anchor. INSV Kaundinya has neither engine nor radar. Using square sails and steering oars, it runs only on wind power. The Navy will soon train a 15-member crew to master this lost art of sailing. Part of grand cultural project of shipbuilders from Goa-based Hodi Innovations, the Ministry of Culture and the Indian Navy, the ship is slated to sail to Oman in late 2025 to retrace the ancient trade routes, which were one used by Indian merchants. Speaking on the launching ceremony of the vessel, Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat termed it a 'resurgence of India's maritime glory'. India, with this ship, is not trying to revive only a boat, it is reviving a forgotten sea-borne legacy, a skill and a story.
Hans India
22-05-2025
- Business
- Hans India
Revival of Ancient Shipbuilding Craft
Karwar: The Indian Navy officially commissioned INSV Kaundinya, a traditionally crafted sail ship, into its fleet at Karwar Naval Base on Wednesday, marking a significant milestone in preserving India's maritime heritage. The vessel, constructed using 5th-century CE shipbuilding techniques, reflects a blend of historical ingenuity and modern validation. The induction ceremony was presided over by Union Minister of Tourism and Culture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, with Vice Admiral Rajaram Swaminathan, Controller of Warship Production and Acquisition, and Rear Admiral K M Ramakrishnan, Flag Officer of Karnataka Naval Area, among the attendees. Shekhawat highlighted the project's importance, stating, '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 traditional artisans using age-old techniques.' He credited Sanjeev Sanyal, Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister, for initiating research into the project. Named after Kaundinya, a legendary Indian mariner who navigated to Southeast Asia, the ship features culturally significant elements, including sails with Gandabherunda (two headed bird) and Sun motifs, a Simha Yali sculpture on the bow, and a Harappan-style stone anchor. These details symbolise India's historical maritime trade and cultural exchanges. The vessel is set to undertake a transoceanic journey along the ancient Gujarat-Oman trade route later this year, reinforcing its role as a living testament to India's seafaring past. The project, formalised in July 2023 through an agreement between the Ministry of Culture, the Indian Navy, and M/s Hodi Innovations, was funded by the Ministry of Culture. Construction began with the keel-laying in September 2023 and culminated in the ship's launch in Goa in February 2025. A team of artisans from Kerala, led by master shipwright Babu Sankaran, employed a traditional stitching technique, using coir rope, coconut fibre, and natural resin to join wooden planks. This method, preserved by a single family, was guided by designs derived from Ajanta Cave paintings, as no original blueprints reportedly exist. The Indian Navy oversaw the technical aspects, collaborating with IIT Madras's Department of Ocean Engineering for hydrodynamic testing and internal assessments to ensure the vessel's seaworthiness. The absence of modern fasteners like screws underscores the authenticity of the construction, which relied entirely on historical methods to recreate the hull and rigging.
