KIMHAE, SOUTH KOREA, September 14, 2004: Links between India and Korea are not only modern-day trade links with commercial names like LG, Hyundai and Samsung making their presence felt in India. In 48 AD, Queen Suro or Princess Heo Hwang-ok is said to have made a journey from Lord Ram’s birthplace to Korea by sea, carrying a stone which calmed the waters. The stone is not found anywhere in Korea and is now a part of crucial evidence that the princess belonged to the city of Ayodhya in India. “This stone is only found in India, proof that it came from there to Korea,” said Song Weon Young, city archeologist of Kimhae, a city near the big industrial town of Pusan. People of Kimhae were so fascinated by these links that they started research on it several years ago. They also ran into a symbol of the Kaya Kingdon with two fish kissing each other, similar to that of the Mishra royal family in Ayodhya. And in the mainly Buddhist city of Kimhae, the fact that Ayodhya has now become the epicenter of a religious divide is an upsetting one “I am aware of the problem, and I feel sorry that Ayodhya is such a volatile city,” said a Kimhae resident.



The Princess is said to have given birth to 10 children, which marked the beginning of the powerful dynasty of Kimhae Kims. Kim Dae Jung, a former President also belongs to the same family name. But even at the center of these links lies a strong sense of commercial exchange between Korea and India. The stone represents Kaya’s cultural heritage which did not stay in one place, and the stone indicates that commercial exchange has been on since the Queen came from India. Thousands of miles away from Ayodhya, the stone is a small piece of history. The people in the city seem quite proud of their links with India, especially because Queen Suro gave rise to the Kim dynasty, a powerful family name in the country.

SRI LANKA, September 16, 2004: The annual Brammothsavam Festival of the Mutuwal Sri Venkateshwara Maha Vishnu Devasthanam begins today and concludes on September 24. The day-long chariot festival will be held on September 23. The temple is a Sri Lankan replica of India’s famous Tirupathy Sri Venkatachalapathy shrine, in South India. The temple was completed in January 2002 after four years of construction. Fifteen sculptors/architects of the Thirupathy Devasthanam and over 100 local construction workers labored tirelessly on the project. The temple is the result of the zealous quest of businessman K. Doraisamy Chettiar with the business community and devotees generously contributing towards the project. The temple trust is also engaged in several humanitarian and social welfare activities and envisions educational projects including the construction of a school and a library.

NEW DELHI, INDIA, September 16, 2004: Advent of technology and modernization may have changed the face of almost everything including the festivities but there is a small group of people keeping alive the traditional way of celebrating the victory of good over evil. A handful of artists, called the Ravana Makers, are working overnight on the pavements near the band market at Titarpur to build effigies of Ravana that would be burnt on Dussehra with pomp and gaiety. “There are about 10-15 shops on this stretch of road which prepare effigies of Ravana for Dussehara. We establish these shops one or two month before the festival and sometime work for 18-20 hours to complete the demand,” says Subhash, who has been doing the job for about a decade now.



As part of the Dusshehra festivities all over the country, people burn the effigies of Ravana, his son Meghanad and brother Kumbhakaran to mark the victory of Lord Rama over the Lankan ruler thousands of years ago. The artists here prepare effigies ranging from a height of six feet to about 20 feet with the help of bamboo sticks, use clothes, paper and stuff fire crackers in them. The entire process of building the effigy has remained the same as it was earlier with the artists first preparing the figure by tying the bamboo sticks and then decorating it. Most of the artists working here have learnt the art from their elders and other family members and then train the next generation in turn, Subhash notes. PTI