INSV Kaundinya: India’s Tribute to its Ancient Maritime and Shipbuilding Heritage

Reclaiming India’s Ancient Maritime Legacy

Since the last decade, India has embarked on a long yet adventurous journey to reclaim its ancient civilizational glory and heritage by reviving lost cultures and traditions that once helped it establish and solidify its position as an ancient superpower, with its influence spreading in all directions across the globe.

The Indian shipbuilding industry, evidence of which dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization, was one of the most sophisticated shipbuilding traditions of the ancient world. It catered to the needs of both inland and oceanic water transport. Ancient Indian maritime and shipbuilding expertise enabled merchants, traders, and seafarers to sail far across vast oceans, carrying with them elements of Indian culture, values, and traditions.

This maritime prowess helped great emperors and conquerors such as Ashoka, Samudragupta, Rajaraja Chola, and Rajendra Chola, among many others, establish a strong naval presence across Southeast Asia. Through these maritime routes, Indian culture, traditions, values, and ideas spread across distant lands, traces of which are visible even today.

The Indian shipbuilding industry flourished for centuries until the advent of European powers, particularly the British, in the late seventeenth century, who systematically dismantled the indigenous shipping industry.

INSV Kaundinya: Revival of an Ancient Tradition

India’s effort to revive and relive its maritime heritage finds expression in INSV Kaundinya, an entirely traditionally built vessel constructed using organic materials such as coir and coconut husk. The knowledge for its construction was sourced from ancient texts like Yuktikalpataru and from the generational wisdom of the indigenous shipbuilding community of Beypore in Kerala, which has preserved the ‘sewn plank’ method of shipbuilding for centuries.

The design of INSV Kaundinya is based on fifth-century CE merchant ships depicted in the murals and paintings of the Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra. The vessel is named after the great ancient mariner Kaundinya I, who sailed to Southeast Asia, married Queen Soma of Funan, and later became the king of Cambodia.

The idea of reviving and reconstructing an ancient Indian sailing vessel was conceptualized and proposed by economist, historian, and author Sanjeev Sanyal. Commander Hemanth Kumar, a naval engineer in the Indian Navy, later realised the project. The Ministry of Culture funded the initiative through a trilateral agreement between the Ministry of Culture, the Indian Navy, and the Goa-based shipbuilding company Hodi Innovations. The keel of the ship was laid in September 2023.

Craftsmanship Rooted in Ancient Texts

With no prior blueprints, the Indian Navy and a team of ship craftsmen from Kerala, led by master shipwright Babu Sankaran and shipbuilder Prathmesh Dhankar, undertook the challenge of building the vessel from scratch. The ship was constructed using the sewing technique, stitched together with coir and coconut husk fibres, and reinforced with glue made from wax and animal fat.

To test its structural integrity, the Indian Navy collaborated with the Department of Ocean Engineering at IIT Madras to validate and assess the ship’s behaviour at sea. The hull, masts, keel, oars, and sails were designed according to the first principles laid down in the ancient shipbuilding text Yuktikalpataru.

An interesting feature of the vessel is its Harappan-style anchors, inspired by those discovered during excavations at Lothal. This serves as a tribute to a civilisation that established the earliest known dock in human history and pioneered maritime trade with other ancient civilisations.

The sails of INSV Kaundinya bear the motif of the Gandabherunda, the two-headed eagle revered as one of the avatars of Lord Vishnu and symbolic of the sun. To incorporate modern safety and navigation standards, the vessel is also equipped with satellite-based communication systems and advanced GPS technology. The construction of the ship was completed by February 2025, and it was commissioned in May 2025.

A Historic Trans-Oceanic Voyage

INSV Kaundinya’s first major trans-oceanic voyage was planned between Gujarat’s Porbandar port and Muscat in Oman. The choice of Oman holds deep historical significance, as it pays tribute to the maritime trade relations between the two regions dating back nearly 5,000 years. Known as Magan in ancient times, Oman was a civilisation contemporary to the Indus Valley Civilization and shared extensive trade relations with Harappan cities.

Archaeological evidence such as seals, coins, and pottery discovered at various sites indicates robust maritime and cultural exchanges between the two civilisations.

Kaundinya departed from the naval base at Karwar for Porbandar on 13 December 2025 with a crew of seventeen members, including thirteen sailors and four officers, led by Commander Vikas Sheoran. The vessel reached Porbandar within a week, following which it embarked on its trans-oceanic journey to Muscat on 29 December 2025.

The ship entered Omani waters on 12 January 2026 and reached the port of Muscat on 14 January 2026. It was received by the Omani Navy with a water cannon salute, marking the successful completion of a fortnight-long voyage.

Balancing Modernity and Civilisational Identity

INSV Kaundinya’s journey stands as a powerful symbol of India’s commitment to honouring its rich maritime heritage and traditions that once made it a leading ancient civilisation through extensive trade and cultural exchanges across regions stretching from South Asia to Rome.

In an era of rapid modernisation and technological advancement, where nations often abandon their foundational traditions in pursuit of progress, India has chosen a distinct path—one that seeks to balance modernity with deep civilisational roots. India recognises that while change is inevitable and necessary, traditions and culture provide a nation with its unique essence. Losing this essence ultimately means losing identity itself.

India is steadily moving towards re-establishing itself as a great civilisation, not by rejecting modern advancements, but by integrating them with its ancient wisdom and heritage.

“Great civilizations are called so because they tend to strike a perfect balance between embracing modernity while being deeply rooted in their ancient civilizational heritage.”

By: Sayanth Sivan

M.A. International Relations and Peace Studies, Nalanda University Fellow, Geojuristoday Emerging Leaders Fellowship Programme