Koreans to visit Ram temple, many believe Ayodhya princess crossed the seas to marry their king

According to Korean legend, a teenage princess from Ayodhya crossed the ocean in a boat some 2,000 years ago, sailed 4,500 kilometres to Korea and married King Kim Suro who founded the Gaya Kingdom in the north Asian country.

The princess, Suriratna, then became Queen Heo Hwang-ok. The fable is hardly known in India, nor is the fact that some 60 lakh people in South Korea, who consider themselves descendants of Suriratna, consider Ayodhya as their maternal home. It was therefore natural that many of them eagerly watched the Ram Temple consecration online from their homes on January 22.

The fable is hardly known in India, nor is the fact that some 60 lakh people in South Korea, who consider themselves descendants of Suriratna, consider Ayodhya as their maternal home. It was therefore natural that many of them eagerly watched the Ram Temple consecration online from their homes on January 22.

And now they can't wait to visit Ayodhya to see the grand new Ram temple complex up close. 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 Sarayu river in Ayodhya in 2001 in a partnership between the Uttar Pradesh government and the Gimhae city in South Korea.