Interfacing cultural landscapes between India and Korea: Illustrating the memorial of korean queen heo in ayodhya Singh Rana P.B.1*, Kumar Sarvesh2** 1Former Professor and Head of Department of Geography, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 2Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, D.D.U. Gorakhpur UniversityGorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh *e-mail: ranapbs@gmail.com
**sarveshlk@gmail.com
Online published on 30 May, 2021. Abstract The interfacing links between Ayodhya (India) and Gimhae (Korea) goes back into two thousand years, illustrated with marriage of princes Suritatna from Ayodhya with King Kim Suro of Gimhae. This is now taken as frame for bilateral cooperation between the two countries. Through the legendry book of the Samguk Yusa ( ) this story has been re-interpreted and taken as base for place-making, i.e. establishing the Memorial of Queen Heo (Suriratna/Shriratna) in Ayodhya at the bank of Sarayu River. The two-fish symbol of royalty and stone-pagoda are believed as taken by the Queen and now preserved in the tomb's area in Gimhae. This paper confirms the researches of Prof. Kim Byung-Mo, who as a pioneer established the historical-cultural links of the story narrated in the Samguk Yusa. The Memorial of Queen Heo in Ayodhya, is an example of place making while spatially manifesting the cultural landscape of the tomb of Queen Heo in Gimhae. The recent ongoing plan for developing and expanding Queen Heo Memorial has been conceived as a site of nexus for cultural tourism. The perspectives of visuality and modelling cultural landscape are taken as methodological approach, further illustrated with photographs and maps. The recent Indo-Korean agreement (10 July 2018) enhancing 11 MOUs, included the development of Queen Heo Memorial at Ayodhya. Top Key Words Ayodhya, Samguk Yusa, Queen Heo Hwang-Ock, King Kim Suro, Gimhae and Heo Memorial Park. Top |