There are moments when someone else’s project doesn’t feel distant and suddenly becomes personal, and INSV Kaundinya is one such case.
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There are moments when someone else’s project doesn’t feel distant and suddenly becomes personal. INSV Kaundinya is one such case. At first instance, it looks like another bit of news on social media. However, once you know its story, it becomes difficult to not feel a deep, unexpected connection.
At first sight, Indian Naval Sailing Vessel (INSV) Kaundinya is a modest ship, wooden, stitched together with rope, shaped by hands rather than machines - not a stereotypical symbol of pride. However, the 65-foot-long ship, built by skilled artisans, using ancient coir-stitching techniques, coconut fiber and natural resins is an amazing recreation of a 5th century painting in the Ajanta Caves. Named after the legendary mariner Kaundinya, who is believed to have sailed from India to Southeast Asia in ancient times, the ship embodies India's historic role as a maritime nation. But, this creation was not the outcome of a nostalgic emotion, but rather it was the answer to a challenge.
One of the key voices behind that challenge was Sanjeev Sanyal, a noted economist, historian, and author, and a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. For years, Sanyal has argued that India’s maritime past was not built on myth or symbolism, but on real technological capability—capability that modern India had simply stopped taking seriously. In the words of Sanyal, who was on board the ship "This (project) is also to show that ancient India, which we are very proud, was really based on risk-takers, adventurers, merchants who went out, discovered new markets and new lands, spread culture, but also imbibed new ideas from them; and, sort of explored this Indian Ocean world, thousands of years ago. So in some ways we are just following their footsteps," (source PTI). The crew, comprising four officers and 13 naval sailors led by Commander Vikas Sheoran, was not only a celebration of a voyage, but of a "deep-rooted civilisational bond". As expressed by the Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, “this expedition, recalled the history, heritage and power of India in the maritime sector. The crew has made India proud, and this voyage has also strengthened our centuries-old ties with Oman” (source NDTV)
The success of INSV Kaundinya arose from the belief that was reposed on our traditional practitioners. While the Indian Navy was the dedicated partner and historians, archaeologists, naval architects, research institutions and concerned government agencies lent support, however it was the artisans—often dismissed as practitioners of “traditional skills”—who were central to the project, bringing with them knowledge preserved not in textbooks but through lived practice and memory. Therefore, this stitched ship built without iron nails, its wooden planks bound together with coir rope, unfamiliar to modern eyes, provided undisputable proof about the forgotten knowledge which lies unexplored in centuries-old carvings, textual references and oral traditions.
As the ship sailed—through open seas, enduring wind and waves with quiet assurance it provided evidence that Indian Knowledge Systems were empirical, adaptive and grounded in careful observation of nature. For a society long conditioned to believe that scientific thinking arrived from elsewhere, this ship offers a gentle but firm correction.
There is also a striking relevance to our present moment. Built using renewable materials and low-impact processes, designed to work with natural forces rather than overpower them, INSV Kaundinya fits seamlessly into today’s conversations on sustainability. What we now call “green innovation” was once simply good engineering.
And perhaps this is where the story widens beyond one ship. Every society, every region and almost every village in India carries its own story of indigenous pride—of tools, techniques, materials and ideas that once solved real problems with remarkable ingenuity. Many of these traditions faded not because they failed, but because they were forgotten, undervalued or written out of formal knowledge systems.
INSV Kaundinya reminds us that rediscovery is possible. Our time seems to be just right to look at our knowledge systems again – carefully and critically – not to romanticize and glorify them, but to test them, learn from them and allow them to stand on their own merit. And we might find in each of our villages, communities and clans a ‘ship’ gently waiting to set sail again.
Prof. Upasana Bora Sinha