Tagore to Ayodhya deep Korea-India links
Back in April 1920 when Korea was under Japanese occupation, one of its oldest newspapers, the Dong-A Ilbo, that has a vibrant press museum now, took birth. On the pages of its first four-page ed ition was a beautiful poem by Indian Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, calling Korea the ‘Lamp of the East’ - words that gave hope to an East Asian country that few knew would become a global success story in growth and development. The short quatrain reads: “In the golden age of Asia, Korea was one of its lamp bearers, and that lamp is waiting to be lit once again, for the illumination of the East.” Tagore’s words remind one of the troubled, colonial past both Korea and India share, at the hands of different rulers. The India link of South Korea has interesting stories to tell about its own history.
During a walk through the beautiful Gyeongbokgung Palace - the last-standing bastion of any Korean royal dynasty and a popular hotspot - in the South Korean capital, Seoul, a well-informed guide is sure to tell its Indian visitors how this link begins in Ayodhya.
According to the legend, a princess from the Hindu divinity Lord Rama’s birthplace Ayodhya married a king in the overseas land of Korea. It is said that close to 10% Koreans trace their roots back to this royal couple. Her two accompanying brothers might also have played a role in bringing Buddhism to the country. Last year, the South Korean first lady Kim Jung-sook, wife of President Moon Jae-in, was in Ayodhya to kick-start a memorial park that marks these ancient ties.
Korean and Indian languages like Tamil and Sanskrit share deep links too. It is not uncommon to find Korean children calling their parents ‘amma’ and ‘appa’. Two universities here also teach Hindi as a language, but none of the three major ones - Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University - do.
‘The Land of the Morning Calm’ currently sees around 100,000 Indian visitors per year, with this number rising each year, for good reason.