India's navy sails back to the future with historic voyage

FILE PHOTO: This photograph taken on December 14, 2025 shows a fresco painting of a ship, an inspiration for the Indian Naval Sailing Vessel INSV Kaundinya's design, on the wall of a rock-cut hall at the Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra. - AFP

NEW DELHI: India's navy boasts aircraft carriers, submarines, warships and frontline vessels of steel as it spreads its maritime power worldwide.

But none of its vessels is as unusual as its newest addition that sets sail on its maiden Indian Ocean crossing on Monday (Dec 29) -- a wooden stitched ship inspired by a fifth-century design, built not to dominate the seas but to remember how India once traversed them.