INS Tarangini to replicate voyage of Chola empire

Kochi, Nov 26 (UNI) Taking a leaf out of history, 'INS Tarangini' will embark on a South East Asian voyage replicating the voyage of the 'Chola empire', Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command (SNC) Sunil K Damle said today.

Addressing a press conference here today, Vice-Admiral Damle said the three-month-long expedition would be launched in January next year. ''The time has been chosen so that the position of the constellations would be the same as during the Chola voyage. The sky will look as it did during that period, '' he said.

Starting at Nagapattinam, the expedition would proceed towards Sri Lanka and then sail further East.

He said 'INS Tarangini', which had sailed from Kochi on a ten-month voyage to the Atlantic coast of North America, had returned here on October 27, 2007. The vessel, which participated in the 'Tall Ships Challenge Series 07', organised by the American Sail Training Association, visited 23 ports in 16 countries enroute.

UNI