INS Sudarshini is a sail training ship built by Goa Shipyard Limited

Goa Shipyard Limited

Goa Shipyard Limited is one of India's leading shipyards. It is located on the West Coast of India at Vasco da Gama, Goa at . It was established in 1957, originally by the Portuguese-India govt as "Estaleiros Navais de Goa", to build barges to be used in Goa's growing mining industry, which took...

 for the Indian Navy

Indian Navy

The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...

. The ship is a follow on class of INS Tarangini

INS Tarangini

INS Tarangini is a tall ship of the Indian Navy, commissioned in 1997 as a sail training ship for naval cadets.Tarangini is a three-masted barque, square rigged on the fore and main masts and fore-and-aft rigged on the mizzen mast...

 which was commissioned in 1997. "Sudarshini" means "beautiful lady Sundari

Sundari

Sundari or Sundari Nanda was the younger half-sister of Buddha and sister of Nanda. She was the child of King Suddhodana and Buddha's aunt Maha Pajapati Gotami...

" after the younger half-sister of Buddha

Gautama Buddha

Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...

. The ship has been designed by Colin Mudie, a naval architect and yacht designer from the United Kingdom.

Sudarshinis hull was launched on 25 January 2011 on the West Coast of India at the port town of Vasco da Gama, Goa

Vasco da Gama, Goa

Vasco da Gama is the largest city in the state of Goa on the west coast of India. It is named after the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama. Vasco has Goa's largest population, estimated at over 100,000. It is also the headquarters of the Mormugao taluka...

, and by then the major portion of work had been completed. She will be commissioned and handed over to the Indian Navy soon. Sudarshini is a steel, three-masted sailing ship with a barque

Barque

A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...

rig. Her 18 sails have a total area of approximately 1035 square metres (11,140.6 sq ft). Capable of operations under sail or power, and with a complement of 60 personnel, she can remain at sea for at least 20 days at a time. Built for worldwide operations, she will be used as a basic seamanship and character building platform.