[EXCLUSIVE]: Korea to have first museum of Indian princess Suriratna
NEW DELHI. Gimhae 김해, the erstwhile royal capital of Gaya in South Korea will soon have an exclusive museum of an Indian princess from Ayodhya – Suriratna, who is believed to have traveled to Korea about 2000 years back to marry King Kim Suro there.
She was later known as Heo Hwang-ok, the first queen of Geumgwan, the earlier name of Gimhae.
The blueprint of this proposed museum has been prepared.
However, Gimhae already has a tomb of the queen next to that of the king as well as a pagoda that was said to have been erected at the ship she had boarded to reach Korea near her grave.
The Gimhae administration is also planning a lot of activities to connect with Indians and setting up a museum for Ayodhya Princess Suriratna in Gimhae is just one of them, Kim Bo Ho, Chief of Investment Promotion Team, Gimhae, Gyeongnam, South Korea who was visiting India recently told Asian Community News (ACN) Network.
“The total area of this museum will be about 3000 sq meters. As per the plan, the ground floor will be about 310.8 sq meters and the first floor will host the key exhibition hall of about 2661 sq meters. It will also have a space for office also on the same floor in about 61 sq meters,” said Kim Bo Ho.
He said the museum will showcase the entire story starting from what made the princess leave Ayodhya at the age of 16, reached Korea taking the sea route and how did she marry the King Kim Suro.
Though the legend of queen Heo does not find mention in Indian history, the 13th-century Korean chronicle Samguk Yusa has a mention of it.
More than six million Koreans, of which majority are from Gimhae Kim clan with surnames Heo trace their lineage to the legendary queen.
Kim Bo Ho said that the museum will be completely different from the memorial being built in India at Ayodhya in the memory of the queen there.
The Queen Heo memorial in Ayodhya, as it will be known as, is coming up at a site near Ram Katha Park just off the Saryu river at the cost of Rs. 25 crores. The memorial is likely to be ready by the end of 2020.
Also read: Stamps issued on Korean Queen Huh Hwang-ok, the Indian princess Suriratna of Ayodhya
The foundation stone of this project was laid by Korean First Lady Kim Jung-sook in November last year in 2018 when she had visited Ayodhya to participate in the Dipawali festival.
According to Kim Bo Ho, a life-size statue of Mahatma Gandhi has also been unveiled recently and open to the public in Gimhae only.
“The administration had planned to set up the statue in the Yonji Park by December but the work on it was completed much before the deadline and the statue was inaugurated on October 5 and was open to public view. The statue was about 1.6 meters in height. The Indian embassy in Korea had provided the statue,” he said.
