Explained: Queen Heo Hwang-ok of Korea, and her Ayodhya connection

What is the News?

On the banks of the Sarayu in Ayodhya, the Ram Katha Park has been renovated which will be renamed as Queen Heo Hwang-ok memorial park.

Note: In 2019, Department of Post issued a set of two postage stamps to commemorate the bilateral relations between India and the Republic of Korea. The Stamp featured the portrait of Princess Suriratna (Queen Heo Hwang-ok).

Who was Queen Heo Hwang-ok?

Queen Heo Hwang-ok was a Korean queen who is believed to have been born Princess Suriratna of Ayodhya, daughter of King Padmasen and Indumati.

Note: Padmasen ruled the ancient kingdom of Kausala (Kosala), a region that extended from present-day UP to Odisha.

The queen’s story is described in Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of Three Kingdoms). It is a 13th-century collection of legends, folktales and history of Korea’s three kingdoms — Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla — and some other regions.

Queens Journey from India to Korea

In 48 BC, when Princess Heo or Suriratna was 16, she travelled to Korea from the ancient city of “Ayuta’ and married Kim Suro, king of the south-eastern Korean state.

She travelled by boat along with an entourage and was sent by her father, who is said to have had a dream about her marrying King Suro.

The debate about her Indian Origins

There is some debate about her Indian origins as there are many versions of the same story. 

Samguk Yusa talks about the queen from a distant land named Ayuta and popular culture considers it Ayodhya. But Indian document or scripture has no record of her. 

Some historians also believe that the princess could actually be from Thailand’s Ayutthaya kingdom. 

But the kingdom in Thailand came about in 1350, years after Samguk Yusa had already been written.

Source: This post is based on the article “Explained: Queen Heo Hwang-ok of Korea, and her Ayodhya connection” published in PIB on 27th October 2021.