Engine-less ship INSV Kaundinya sails from India to Oman: Whats the story behind its name?
INSV Kaundinya has embarked on a historic sail from Porbandar to Muscat to showcase India's ancient shipbuilding heritage by retracing old maritime trade routes using only wind and sails. Named after the legendary Indian mariner Kaundinya — believed to have voyaged to Southeast Asia in the 1st century CE and helped establish the Kingdom of Funan — the stitched ship symbolises India's deep-rooted maritime links and cultural influence across the Indian Ocean world.
New Delhi: INSV Kaundinya started a historic voyage on Monday (December 29) from Porbandar in Gujarat to Muscat in Oman, with the aim to highlight India’s rich shipbuilding legacy. The voyage symbolically retraces ancient maritime trade routes, bringing together history, age-old craftsmanship, and contemporary naval expertise in a unique maritime effort.
Taking to X, the official handle for INSV Kaundiya announced: "Charting history across the seas. INSV Kaundinya retraces ancient Indian transoceanic trade routes, sailing from India to Muscat, Oman–showcasing the legacy of stitched shipbuilding and India’s timeless maritime connect with the Indian Ocean world.”
The vessel will depend completely on wind and sails, recreating the conditions in which ancient Indian mariners once went on ocean voyages for long distances. INSV Kaundinya is dubbed as a "stitched ship” as its wooden planks are bound together with coconut coir rope and sealed using natural resins, cotton and oils. The traditional shipbuilding method is believed to date back to the 5th century CE.
It was in May 2025 that the Indian Navy officially inducted and named the historic stitched ship INSV Kaundinya, non-combat in nature, at a ceremony held at the naval base in Karwar, Karnataka.
What's behind its name
The name Kaundinya has been derived from an ancient Hindu explorer and adventurer who is said to have sailed to Southeast Asia in the 1st century CE. In Southeast Asian historiography, Prince Kaundinya is believed to have sailed to the Mekong Delta. Kaundinya met princess Soma (Vietnamese) in a pirate battle. They fell in love and went on to found the Funan Empire near the Mekong River delta.
It is believed that Kaundinya was instrumental in establishing the Kingdom of Funan, in present-day Cambodia, which emerged as one of the earliest polities shaped by Indic cultural influence.
Ancient Chinese texts highlight how they founded cities with irrigation and flood-control systems, and how the civilisation prospered through innovation and hard work. These developments laid the foundation for the great Hindu kingdoms of Khmer and Champa.
What does the inscription stone say?
There's an inscription stone bearing the earliest known reference to Kaundinya and his story was discovered at My Son, a World Heritage site in central Vietnam. The inscription is composed in a mix of Sanskrit prose and verse. When translated, it means: It was there that Kauṇḍinya, the foremost among Brāhmins, planted the spear which he had obtained from Droṇa’s son Asvatthāman. There was a daughter of the king of serpents, called Somā, who founded a family in this world. Having attained, through love, she was taken as wife by the excellent Kauṇḍinya...
Some reports suggest that Kaundinya has not been mentioned in Indian records. However, he is regarded as the earliest recorded Indian sailor to have had a huge impact across the world.