India is a peninsular nation that has forgotten its oceans — INSV Kaundinya is a direct challenge to that amnesia. Sanjeev Sanyal, in conversation with defence journalist Vishnu Som, tells the remarkable story behind building a 5th-century stitched ship reconstructed from an Ajanta cave painting.
Named after Kaundinya — the oldest known Indian mariner by name, who sailed past the Mekong Delta, fought off pirates, married a Naga princess named Soma, and founded the first Hindu kingdom in Southeast Asia (Funan, ancestor of the Khmer Empire) — the vessel is a 21-metre, nail-free ship built from wild jackwood planks stitched together with salt-cured coir rope. The design was triangulated from Ajanta murals, Satavahana coins, the Yukti Kalpataru of Raja Bhoj, and IIT Madras wave-tank testing. PM Modi approved the project with two words: “Karo” and “Doobna mat.”
The ship carries no rudder, uses only square sails, and has a flexible hull — sailing characteristics no living person knows. An Indian Navy crew of 15 has been assigned, with sailing expected post-monsoon from Karwar Naval Base.
About the Speakers:
Sanjeev Sanyal is a leading Indian economist, historian, and member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council. A Rhodes Scholar and former Global Strategist at Deutsche Bank, he now shapes India’s economic policy and global financial engagement. He was named Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2010. He is also a well-known environmentalist and urban theorist. He has been a Visiting Scholar at Oxford University, an Adjunct Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, Singapore and a Senior Fellow of the Worldwide Fund for Nature. He is an accomplished writer of many critically acclaimed books.
Vishnu Som is Group Executive Editor at NDTV and anchor of the flagship show Left, Right and Centre. An award-winning television journalist with nearly three decades of experience, he has reported from major conflict zones. Vishnu has interviewed world leaders from Vladimir Putin and Shinzo Abe to Bill Gates and John Kerry, anchored global sessions at the World Economic Forum, and produced over 50 acclaimed documentaries.
