 "Stitched ship project: Recreating ancient Indian maritime wonder")
On the small island of Divar, in Goa, a big dream is slowly, imperceptibly, taking shape. The dream of making a stitched ship as ancient Indian seafarers did and taking it out on an oceanic voyage has obsessed historians, navy architects, scientists, boat builders, shipwrights, sailing experts, and maritime enthusiasts over the last few years.
This is finally coming to fruition at the Hodi Innovations shipyard on Divar, under the watchful eyes of master shipwright Babu Shankaran and the energetic builder Prathamesh Dandekar, the boss of Hodi. Prathamesh, the young Turk, brings an impressive and varied skill set in shipbuilding and engineering from India and abroad, but the biggest weapon in his armour is the guidance and oversight of his father, the legendary boat builder Ratnakar Dandekar.
For the uninitiated, Ratnakar is the man who built the iconic sailing vessels Mhadhei and Tarini (among others), which Dilip Donde, Abhilash Tomy, and the Women’s Sailing Super Six led by Varthika Joshi have successfully used for their circumnavigation voyages. One of these two ships will be used by the Navy for the next circumnavigation voyage, to be announced soon. And yet, even for Ratnakar and his team, the stitched ship may turn out to be their biggest challenge. Let us see why.
Background
India’s varied and rich maritime canvas going back into antiquity has for long been known, even if not adequately recognised. The fact that ancient India had cultural and commercial links with countries as far east as Japan and Korea and as far west as Greece and Rome, that Indian Ocean was the emporium of ancient world in which goods and ideas were traded and, of which, India was the epicentre, has been written and commented upon by many scholars and historians. The imprimatur of those ‘splendid exchanges’ are visible even today in the form of architecture, places of worship, cuisine, manners and modes of people in the region that we define as Indo-Pacific today.
None of this would have been possible if India did not have a thriving maritime ‘ecosystem’ in which rulers, religious leaders, venture capitalists, traders, seafarers participated wholeheartedly and in which ports and other maritime infrastructure, contextual to that time, were built and sustained. As Priyasha Dixit, a research scholar in her recent essay for the National Maritime Foundation (NMF) says, “India was an independent and crucial player in well-established mercantile trade in the Indian Ocean for centuries, well before the arrival of any colonial powers. Since ancient times, Indian sailors ventured into the seas thanks to their knowledge and use of the monsoon winds. This deep understanding of seasonal patterns allowed them to travel safely and efficiently, opening up trade routes to faraway lands.”
Impact Shorts
More ShortsAxiomatic to all of this was the availability of a shipbuilding industry. It is obvious that seafaring whether by staying close to the coast or going across oceans would not have happened without robust shipbuilding capabilities. Ships built in India, by Indians, traversed across the Indo-Pacific and closer home in coastal and riverine waters. As Dixit brings out with regard to the Mauryan empire that “the criticality of shipbuilding is also proven by the fact that the State also gave tax incentives to build ships. Maritime trade and connectivity were, therefore, a significant feature of ancient societies”.
But what sort of ships were these? How were they built? Which were the important shipbuilding centres? Unfortunately, much of popular literature on India’s maritime past has focused more on the civilisational links, goods traded, human experiences and such like. Therefore, knowledge about shipbuilding techniques, engineering aspects and other technical dimensions remained in penny pockets or in some scholarly treatises. Recently, as a part of India’s pursuit to rediscover its Indic knowledge systems, more effort has been put into revisiting its ancient shipbuilding knowledge. The stitched ship is one such magnificent quest.
Central to this endeavour is author, historian, economist and currently a Member of the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to the Prime Minister, Sanjeev Sanyal. His books “The Ocean of Churn: How the Indian Ocean Shaped Human History” and “The Incredible History of India’s Geography” make a reference to the stitched ship.
During the course of his research having come across this unique way in which ancient Indians constructed their ships, viz, by stitching the hull together with a kind of coir/rope rather than being nailed, Sanyal had, for long, envisioned constructing a stitched ship to celebrate India’s rich shipbuilding heritage. While contemplating the way forward, serendipity struck, when on December 21, Sanyal who was then the Principal Economic Advisor in the Ministry of Finance, met Commander Y Hemanth Kumar.
Most fortuitously, Hemanth turned out to be a qualified naval architect. He instinctively felt that the Indian Navy, which is a pioneer in indigenous shipbuilding as well as a key player in ocean sailing and yachting, could play an important role in this mission. It was almost as though Sanyal had found a kindred spirit who shared his enthusiasm and dedication.
This led over the next few months to the Indian Navy and the Ministry of Culture coming on board. It is to the credit of the higher leadership in both these establishments that they enthusiastically bought into the proposal. While the Indian Navy took the lead on technical and design issues, the Ministry of Culture expressed willingness to fund the project. Thus, the endeavour was informally greenlighted. However, a lot of groundwork needed to be done. Before that, a bit more about stitched ships to contextualise the project.
Stitched Ships – Past and Present
As brought out earlier, India’s ancient voyages of trade and exploration were done on vessels that used a peculiar technology - the ships were “stitched” together rather than nailed. The evidence of the existence of stitched ships in the Indian iconography and archaeological findings has been known in scholarly circles. Speculations abound on why this was so. Some attribute it to superstition that magnetic lodestones in the sea would suck in ships which bore iron nails. Others attribute it to the likelihood of rusting in iron nails which would have affected safety and stability of the vessel. However, Sanyal and his cohort differ. They argue that this was done despite the knowledge of rust-free iron (as evidenced by the Mehrauli pillar) as well as exposure to Roman and Chinese ships that used nails. In their view Indians (and later Arabs) adopted this technology as it made the hulls flexible and less prone to breaking up on shoals/sand bars.
Sanyal’s book on Indian Geography states that “It is more likely that this was because ships sailed in waters full of atolls and reefs and had to be beached at many places due to lack of sheltered harbours or due to the rough monsoon seas….. It was only with the arrival of the Europeans that the Indian Ocean world shifted to ships nailed to frames to allow use of cannons (the stitched ships could not handle the blowback and tended to warp)”.
Interestingly, one of the oldest stitched ship representations is found in Sanchi sculptures of 2nd Century BCE. Even more fascinatingly, today the stitched plank constructions are practiced in limited communities along both the Western and Eastern coasts of India. Despite advancements in modern techniques, this age-old practice continues to endure, carried on by the last remaining shipwrights of this type of construction. Unlike modern shipbuilding techniques, the method of stitching ships is a labour-intensive process that requires great skill and knowledge. The hulls are stitched together using coconut coir twines, coconut fibres, and then covered with fish oil to make them waterproof.
On the West Coast of India, Kettuvellam boats of Kerala are constructed using stitching methods. These vessels ply only in the inland waters and are mostly used for recreational purposes, like houseboats. In Goa, the stitched vessels are found along the rivers of Tiracol, Chapora and Amone of North Goa. These boats are locally called revenchem vodem and are used for transporting river sand to land. Along the Konkan and Karnataka Coast, stitched boats include Machuvas, Manji and Phatemars. Stitched boats of Lakshadweep Islands are spread across the Islands of Amini, Kadmat, Kiltan, Kavaratti, Agatti and Chetlat. In the order of increasing size, the stitched boats are called odi/cheriyath, rendu valikkindad, aru valikkindad, ettu valikkindad, Kondalam and Odam (also called odakappal or valia odam). The East Coast of India also has several stitched boat forms. Along the southern coast of Andhra Pradesh (south of Krishna delta), keel-less stitched boats are found; they are primarily used for fishing and belong to boat types called Peddavala Padava and Karravala Padava. Further north, along the northern coast of Godavari delta and Visakhapatnam, keeled stitched boats called Padavas are predominantly used. Another important stitched boat found all along the Andhra Coast is Masula. It is predominantly used for seine net fishing. On the Odisha coast, stitched boats called teppa and odisha paduva are used.
On both coasts and across states, the largely common factor is that this art of stitched shipbuilding has been passed down from generation to generation within the coastal communities. This intricate process is not based on documented processes or precise calculations, but, instead, relies on the skill and knowledge of the shipwrights who create these amazing vessels. As one of the officers working on the group said “With each stitch being carefully planned and executed, this centuries-old tradition embodies the essence of civilizational memory - a living connection to India’s deep maritime heritage that stretches back thousands of years”.
With regard to the wood there is much greater clarity. As Dixit says, “Various historical and archaeological sources in Sanskrit, Pali and other vernacular languages detail the use of timber for shipbuilding and the meticulous techniques employed to maintain the longevity of those ships. Panini’s work, called the ‘Ashtadhyayi’, which dates back to the 5th century BCE, elaborates greatly on different timber species and their use in ship construction among many other purposes. Patanjali’s work from the 2nd century BCE, likewise, mentions the particular use of Deodar for the construction of different parts of the ship, and the general variety of timber employed in the construction process. Many other foreign records, while expounding the many merits of Indian teak, mention that teakwood was exported to distant lands for shipbuilding, and construction of buildings, temples, and palaces”. It is also a matter of common knowledge that Indian teak because of its superior quality was used as raw material for building British ships during the colonial epoch. In Dixit’s words “The coming together of this wood and stitching is often seen in the Dhows, which are a mix of Indo-Arab techniques and have been seen in the Western Indian Ocean region for many centuries. The masts and yards of traditional dhows were originally constructed using Indian teak and coconut wood. Early versions had their sails woven from coconut or palm leaves, while the subsequent use of cotton (which was also from India) made longer voyages possible. The planks used for the hull were often stitched or sewn together and the vessel most often featured a triangular (lateen) sail, which allowed it to sail much closer to the wind than a square sail would have allowed”.
Getting It Going
To come back to the project, Sanyal and Hemanth set the ball rolling. From there, more stakeholders joined along the way and embarked on a long challenging journey to bring this vision to life. Over a period of one and a half years, this endeavour was painstakingly put together brick by brick. All the available sources had to be scanned and studied. Constructing a boat requires more than literary references or rock inscription; it needs detailed drawings and equipment specifications. India’s largely oral tradition of dissemination of history meant that written documents on such subjects were not readily available.
On the other hand, as brought out above, the tradition of building such ships has been passed down generations — largely as a family inherited skill. Therefore, traditional shipbuilding yards had to be scouted to survey the craft (and craftsmen) available. The efforts of the team from the Navy, especially the Directorate of Naval Architecture (DNA), were tireless, involving detailed research into ancient shipbuilding techniques and seeking an in-depth understanding of stitched ship construction. They poured over many scientific papers, ensuring that every technical aspect was meticulously noted for planning and execution. One of the most challenging aspects of the project was assembling the right team, particularly someone who had experience in this craft.
Their research led to a person called Babu Sankaran who was reputed to be one of the few remaining master shipwrights from India capable of building stitched ships. It emerged that Babu Sankaran and his team had previously constructed stitched ships in Oman that successfully undertook sea voyages. But, tracking him down was easier said than done. His contact details were not available. The DNA team, in true Sherlock Holmes style, searched several YouTube videos on stitched ships where Babu’s name was mentioned. Through these videos, they identified Tom Vosmer from the University of Western Australia and Eric Staples from Zayed University as key figures associated with these projects.
An extensive online search was conducted to find their contact information. After locating their email addresses, and several attempts later, Tom Vosmer replied and connected Cdr Hemanth to Eric Staples, who in turn led him to Babu Sankaran’s son Anoop. This entire process spanned over four months. But more challenges lay ahead and took a great deal of negotiation skills. Babu Sankaran could only speak Malayalam; therefore, help was sought from Malayali friends to motivate Sankaran to join the team. Ensuring that a formal contract was in place at the right time was also crucial, as the team had other commitments in Oman, and, without a formal contract, it would have been difficult to prevent them from accepting further engagements. The officials at the Ministry of Culture made this possible by ironing out any anticipated bureaucratic creases and proactively accepted the ‘contract requirement’ even when the end product still remained nebulous.
The next step was to dial Ratnakar Dandekar, the ‘one stop answer’ for any such ‘adventure’. Apart from his proven expertise in designing sailing craft that have circumnavigated the world and that he possesses readymade boat building infrastructure, Ratnakar’s biggest calling card is that he relishes a challenge. He has a sense of history and is equally driven by the passion of doing something different.
The shipyard, in turn, approached India’s first solo circumnavigator, Captain Dilip Donde to join the core team. His extensive experience in ship design and circumnavigation would be useful both, in the design stages as user input, and also, for training the Indian Navy crew, who would undertake the voyage when the ship was ready.
On the technical front, Hemanth’s expertise gained during his post graduation in Hydrodynamics at IIT Madras was instrumental. He held several discussions with Prof R Vijayakumar, a faculty at the Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT Madras (and former Naval Officer), and discussed several nuances of stitched ship construction with him. This culminated in IIT Madras undertaking the project for model testing for the stitched ship — the first time in India.
Meanwhile, in parallel, Sanjeev Sanyal briefed senior political and administrative functionaries in various echelons and put across the idea of celebrating India’s ancient maritime tradition by way of the stitched ship project. The response was uniformly positive and all of them were on board. The first public declaration of the stitched ship project was made at a lecture delivered by Sanyal, on November 8, 2022, at the Shikha-o-Anusandhan (SOA) University, Bhubaneswar. The event on India’s maritime history and tradition, appropriately called ‘Samudra Manthan’ was part of Indian Knowledge System (IKS), a joint project of the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Culture. For illustration, a replica of the stitched planks design was shown to the public for the first time. This author was present at the function and clearly recalls the enthusiasm with which the announcement was greeted. From here on, there was no looking back.
Just a few days later, the core team visited Hodi Innovations Shipyard, Goa, their first visit to the boat builder’s workplace. This time they were joined by Admiral Karambir Singh, the immediately preceding Navy Chief. At this point, the Admiral’s deep commitment to the project is worth bringing out. Having had discussions with Sanyal earlier about the stitched ship and nursing a deep passion for history himself, Singh complemented the efforts of the rest. One of the challenging tasks Admiral KB Singh helped accomplish was finalising the shipyard for the ship’s construction. This brief was very difficult for any shipbuilder to execute, yet Admiral KB Singh’s expertise and persuasive powers made it possible to secure a suitable shipyard, ensuring the project’s continued progress.
Next, he also stepped in to refine the concept design. As one of the core team members says, “Admiral KB Singh meticulously reviewed the draft presentation, smoothing out the rough edges and ensuring it met the necessary standards. His keen insights and constructive feedback were instrumental in refining our approach”. Third, when the name of Babu Shankaran was being contemplated, Singh reached out to top officials in the Khimji Ramdas Group, seeking technical advice based on their experience with the Oman Stitched Ship Voyage. While the Ministry of Culture and the Navy pursued official channels with various agencies, Admiral KB Singh worked on the informal networks in the background. Whenever bottlenecks arose, a prompt message or call from Singh to the right people, usually, resolved the issue.
On February 13, 2023, the Stitched Ship Project received formal approval from the government as part of the Commemoration Project of Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav (AKAM) for 75 years of Independence. Exactly two months later, on April 13, 2023, the Prime Minister and the Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh were given a detailed briefing on the project, at Bhopal, on the sidelines of Combined Commanders’ Conference. It was brought out to the dignitaries that the Navy would oversee the project to induct a sea-worthy vessel, which they hoped to sail across the Indian Ocean, along 2000-year-old sailing routes.
Once all the important stakeholders were onboard, it was still necessary to conclude the contract with the shipyard. In early July 2023, Babu Shankaran and his team undertook their first visit to the Hodi premises. Once he was on board, clause-by-clause contract discussion with the Shipyard took place. Finally, on July 18, 2023, a tripartite contract was signed between the Indian Navy, Ministry of Culture and Hodi Innovations Pvt Ltd. As per the contract, while the Ministry of Culture will fund the project, the Indian Navy will oversee the construction by Hodi Innovations, undertake acceptance trials of the vessel and training of the crew, as well as undertake subsequent sorties culminating in a transoceanic voyage.
Finally, signalling the commencement of the business end of the task and moving from planning to execution, the keel laying of the vessel took place, about 10 months ago, on September 12, 2023. Present on the occasion were Meenakshi Lekhi, the then Minister of Culture, Admiral R Hari Kumar, the then Chief of the Naval Staff, Sanjeev Sanyal and other dignitaries as well as members of the core team. While the stated aim of the project is the reconstruction of an ocean-going sail ship using the ancient Indian art of stitching and undertaking a voyage along ancient sailing routes using traditional navigational methods, there are other objectives too. These could be seen as the revival of cultural memories of India’s maritime past and understanding how the monsoons and equatorial currents shaped interactions across the Indian Ocean including trade, flow of Indic culture, technologies and geo-political rivalries. In addition, it has also been conceived to inculcate a sense of pride in Indian maritime heritage among the present generation.
Current Status and Timelines
In May this year, I had the great privilege of visiting the shipyard, getting a firsthand experience of the intricate construction involved in the stitched ship and seeing ‘history being made’. As workmen chipped and chiselled under the watchful eye of Babu Shankaran, there was noticeable enthusiasm and passion as would accompany any pioneering initiative. In his typically engaging manner, Prathamesh told me that ‘offsets and lines plan were developed by Hodi Shipyard from the scratch’. It was based on varied sources such as the research conducted by Sanyal, other research of stitched ships and sewn plank constructions mentioned in the International Journal of Nautical Archeology, Ajanta painting of a 4th-5th century ocean-going sailing ship, other ancient depictions, descriptions in old texts, surviving boat-building traditions and Omani reconstructions, as well as by in-house research and ongoing testing. But unlike other vessels that they build to very definite and specific design parameters given by the user, the challenge in this case was to derive them de novo.
Meanwhile, from Dilip Donde and Hemanth I learnt that there have been regular design and project reviews to constantly stay on top of the situation. I could see for myself the hull shaping up well and the frames getting positioned for stitching. It now seemed that the project culmination was in sight. As per estimates of the shipyard and core team, all going well, the vessel should be ready for launching in water in early 2025 and following extensive trials, be ready for delivery to the Navy in mid-2025. The transoceanic voyage, most probably from Mandvi in Gujarat to Muscat in Oman, retracing an ancient maritime route, could happen by the end of the next year. Recently, on 17 June, to add to the feeling of reassurance, the model testing of the vessel was conducted in the towing tank facility at Dept of Ocean Engineering of IIT Madras. The model testing was undertaken by a team led by Prof R Vijayakumar in the presence of Indian Navy representatives. This confluence of ancient Indian maritime prowess and modern technology augurs well for the future.
Conclusion
The stitched ship project is not merely about crafting something in wood and coir, though it is also that. It is not merely about a pioneering initiative, though it is undoubtedly that. Ultimately, it is about a dream. A dream that obsessed one man, then spread among few and has now engulfed many. It is a dream that seeks to revive an ancient Indian maritime tradition and to bring the maritime in the forefront of India’s popular lore and narratives. Sanyal’s dogged pursuit, the Ministry of Culture’s enthusiastic backing, the Navy’s undiluted support and the dedication of the core team members brought together historical expertise, modern naval capabilities and traditional shipbuilding skills. The coordination shown by all, from the planner to the shipbuilder, have resulted in ‘seamlessly stitching the entire project together’. By transforming a visionary idea into a tangible celebration of India’s illustrious shipbuilding legacy, the Indian Navy has set a precedent for future historical and cultural endeavours and for similar such creative collaborations. It is precisely this very spirit of exploration and adventure that propelled our ancestors to establish trade routes by sea (and land) across the Indo-Pacific Region and informed their multifaceted experiences.
As Priyasha Dixit says in her essay, “the ancient Indian seafarers excelled at comprehending the potency and complexity of the monsoon winds. They designed and built ships and craft that were capable of utilising these seasonal winds to effect not merely close-coast voyages but ones that involved sailing out of sight of land for protracted periods, thereby laying the foundation for trade routes spanning the Indian Ocean and farther regions. Evidence suggests that it was not just voyagers but Indian maritime craftsmen, too, who were adept at employing their refined skills to develop indigenous shipbuilding methods. Their innovative approach displayed ingenuity and resourcefulness that marked them apart from the rest of the world while actively contributing to the development of robust and seaworthy vessels”.
Divar island’s date with destiny looms large on the horizon. For long, renowned as a place dotted with houses of Portuguese architecture, it might just retrace its historical markers many centuries before to a time when the Indian Ocean was an ‘Ocean of Churn’ and India at the epicentre of global activity.
Cmde Srikant Kesnur, a Navy veteran, writes on maritime issues. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect those of Firstpost or any other organisation. Some of the material on ancient Indian stitched ships has been derived from the research conducted by the Core Team, which contains the necessary sources. All photographs are courtesy Indian Navy.
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