Memorial of Heo Hwang-ok, Ayodhya
A memorial of the Korean queen Heo Hwang-ok is located in Ayodhya, India.
Heo Hwang-ok is a legendary queen mentioned in the 13th-century chronicle Samguk Yusa. She is said to have come to Geumgwan Gaya from Ayuta.[1] Based on identification of Ayuta with Ayodhya, she is believed to be of Indian origin.[2]
In 2001, a Korean delegation, which included the North Korean ambassador to India, inaugurated a memorial dedicated to her in Ayodhya.[3][4] The monument was built in Korean tradition using a 3 m high and 7,500 kg heavy stone shipped from Korea. The mayors of Ayodhya and Gimhae also signed a Sister City bond in March 2001.[5]
In March 2016, a 38-member South Korean delegation made a proposal to develop the memorial further. The proposal was accepted by the Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.[6] The regional tourism office of India released ₹ 30 million for the development of the memorial. It was decided that South Korean architects will survey the land, and prepare an action plan. Song Eun-Bok, the mayor of the Gimhae city, had visited Ayodhya in 2000 and made a similar plan, but it had not materialized.[7] In May 2017, during the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Seoul, a decision was taken to upgrade the monument as a joint project between India and South Korea.[8]
Hundreds of South Korean tourists visit Ayodhya every year to pay tributes to their queen.[9]
External links
- Tomb of Queen Suro in the city of Gimhae, South Korea.
References
- ↑ Il-yeon (tr. by Ha Tae-Hung & Grafton K. Mintz) (1972). Samguk Yusa. Seoul: Yonsei University Press. ISBN 89-7141-017-5.
- ↑ Skand R. Tayal (2015). India and the Republic of Korea: Engaged Democracies. Taylor & Francis. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-317-34156-7.
- ↑ Korean memorial to Indian princess, 6 March 2001, BBC
- ↑ Legacy of Queen Suriratna, 6 Dec. 2016, The Korea Times
- ↑ South Korea's Ayodhya connection, 12 Sept. 2004, The Times of India
- ↑ UP CM announces grand memorial of Queen Huh Wang-Ock, 1 March 2016, WebIndia123
- ↑ Ayodhya's new world heritage site will remember Korean queen, 8 March 2015, Daily Mail
- ↑ Unravelling the Ayodhya-Korea link,13 July 2015 , The Hindu
- ↑ Why 60 lakh Koreans consider Lord Ram's Ayodhya their maternal home?, 4 March 2016, Zee News