CONCEPT OF DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF PILGRIM SHIPS IN INDIA

Abstract

Being the land of Spirituality and Mythology, India has thousands of pilgrimage centres across its breadth and length. River Ganges, which originated from Great Himalaya and flows through number of states and finally merges at Kolkata with Bay of Bengal, is worshipped as goddess of prosperity by the masses in India. The goddess river Ganga has many pilgrimage centres spread along her shores right from the origin to the river mouth. The concept of Pilgrim Ships started in the year 1602, between Falmouth, England and Plymouth. From there has been more than 250 pilgrim ships plying mainly in Europe and America in the mid-17th Century. India, Specifically, the City of Bombay and parts of Gujrat became a part of global pilgrim ship route in the early 19th Century. There are also records of Pilgrim Ships built in India, during the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar. All these has set forth a set of rules in the Indian Merchant Shipping act which gives specific rules for design of type vessel for pilgrimage. The proposed paper brings out design of a Pilgrimage Cum Cruise Vessel for Ganges, National Waterway No.1, with reference to the unique and specific design guidelines provided in the Indian Merchant Shipping Rules. The paper will discuss specific design issues related to requirements of pilgrims and general solutions to the requirements with a naval architectural touch. Potential for developing similar designs for other inland water-based routes in India will also be discussed as part of exploring a business proposal in this sector.