- Thursday, May 09, 2024
The Gimhae- Ayodhya connect is a testament to our shared cultural heritage and longstanding people-to-people relations, the foreign minister said on X.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIAN external affairs minister Subrahmanyan Jaishankar on Wednesday (6) met a delegation led by the mayor of Gimhae, a city in South Korea which is a ‘sister city’ of India’s holy city of Ayodhya where a grand temple dedicated to Hindu god Ram was inaugurated in January. The meeting took place in the South Korean capital of Seoul.
The diplomat, who is currently on a four-day tour of South Korea and Japan, said the connection between the two cities is a testament to “our shared cultural heritage and longstanding people-to-people relations”.
Gimhae is located about 330 kilometres southeast of Seoul.
According to a Korean legend, a teenage princess from Ayodhya crossed the ocean in a boat some 2,000 years ago, sailed almost 4,500 kilometres to reach Korea and married King Kim Suro, who founded the Gaya Kingdom in the east Asian country.
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Delighted to meet Gimhae City Mayor Hong Tae-yong today.
The Gimhae- Ayodhya connect is a testament to our shared cultural heritage and longstanding people-to-people relations.
Discussed greater cultural and educational cooperation with Gimhae City. pic.twitter.com/vbtlBTLcKk
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (Modi Ka Parivar) (@DrSJaishankar) March 6, 2024
The princess, Suriratna, then became Queen Heo Hwang-ok. Some six million people in South Korea, who consider themselves descendants of Suriratna, consider Ayodhya as their maternal home.
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“Delighted to meet Gimhae City Mayor Hong Tae-yong today. The Gimhae- Ayodhya connect is a testament to our shared cultural heritage and longstanding people-to-people relations. Discussed greater cultural and educational cooperation with Gimhae City,” Jaishankar posted on X after the meeting along with a photo of the occasion.
He gifted a small replica of the recently inaugurated Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, which is located in the most populous Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
In a statement, India’s ministry of external affairs (MEA) said his visit also “allowed age-old civilisational and cultural ties between the two countries to be cherished”.
My opening remarks at the 10th 🇮🇳-🇰🇷 Joint Commission Meeting in Seoul today. pic.twitter.com/FSOZE7Q9fe
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (Modi Ka Parivar) (@DrSJaishankar) March 6, 2024
“India shares an ancient bond of kinship with the Korean people, manifested by Princess Suriratna from Ayodhya, who is known as Queen Heo Hwang-ok in the RoK,” it added.
Many members of the Karak clan visit Ayodhya every year to pay tributes at the memorial of Queen Heo Hwang-ok at the Queen Heo Memorial Park, which was set up on the banks of the Sarayu River in Ayodhya in 2001 in a partnership between the government of Uttar Pradesh and Gimhae.
Earlier in the day, Jaishankar met South Korea’s top leadership as he co-chaired the 10th India-South Korea Joint Commission Meeting with his counterpart Cho Tae-yul in Seoul.
The MEA also said that Jaishankar received from revered Monk Domyung a book penned by him on Korea’s historical and cultural association with ancient India and Buddhism. EAM visited a special exhibition showcasing India’s rich Buddhist heritage at the prestigious National Museum of Korea.
