Vivek Sharma, New Delhi: Korean Cultural Centre India (KCCI) and Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) hosted a musical, ‘The Legend of Princess Sriratna’ based on the story of Indian princess appearing in Korean ancient history book, ‘Samguk Yusa’.The musical expresses the mysterious and fantastic love story between India and Korea. The two-and-a-half-hour long epic performance contains the basic content that the princess Sriratna of India receives a proposal from King Kim Su-ro and travels to Korea from a faraway Indian land and becomes the queen with new name, Huh through the marriage. According to the characteristics of the plot of legend, the traditional aspects of India and Korea was captured in a mysterious and fantastic atmosphere. It was made to celebrate the completion of Queen Huh (Korean name of Indian princess) Memorial Park in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, which has been conducted as a cultural exchange project between the Korean and Indian governments and has finally been staged as the eve of the South Korean Embassy’s National Day event. Ambassador of the Republic of Korea H.E. Chang Jae-bok, said” This theatrical musical play is going to recreate the 2000-year-old love story of an Indian Princess and a South Korean King, which has truly become a lasting symbol of Korea-India friendship and partnership. Our two peoples celebrate the beautiful shining legacy of the matrimonial alliance between the Ayodhya princess and the Korean king. In India, just as in Korea, there is a growing interest in re-emphasizing our ancient bonds to re-establish strong emotional bonds. This musical play is a testimony to this fact. I am sure, the event will further popularize the tale of Kim Suro and Suriratna and show how we are connected with each other for ages. This will help cement mutual understanding and friendship between our two people which is so very important for deepening of Korea-India Special Strategic Partnership.He praised the production team, especially to cast and crew who had put in a lot of efforts to make this play a memorable one. Director Imran Khan, production in-charge, said, “My first travel to Korea was in 2004, and now Korea is almost my second home. While observing Korean culture very closely, I learned various traditional arts of Korea, such as mask dance, Pansori (Korean traditional opera), and Samulnori (folk music and acrobatics genre). It was my passion to become an artist and storyteller for telling our folk tales to a young audience. When I first learned about the legend of King Kim Suro and Princess Sriratna, it felt good to know that my two home countries have been interconnected for so many centuries. This story is very famous in Korea, but not many people know about it in India. In this regard, I think it should be made known to the Indian audience and people in Indian culture. The event was graced by the presence of Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to India H.E. Chang Jae-bok, Hwang Il-yong, Director of KCCI, Shri Dinesh K. Patnaik/ Director General, ICCR, Shri Adwaita Garanayak, DG, National Gallery of Modern Art, Ms. Uma Sekhar, Additional Secretary (L&T), Shri C. Rajasekhar, OSD (States), Shri Skand Tayal/ chairperson, Indo Korea Friendship Society and many more. The day also witnessed Korean culture experience booths consisting of Korean cultural items like Hanbok (Korean traditional dress), traditional games, Samulnori musical instruments, VR devices containing videos of Dokdo, one of the most beautiful island of Korea, experience, and Korean food. KCCI and ICCR under the Ministry of Ministry of External Affairs will cooperate and support all required. The musical is being considered to be presented as a cultural event to celebrate the completion of Queen Huh Memorial Park at Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, scheduled for 3rd November, this year.
Email id : reporter.cnpn@gmail.com
‘The Legend of Princess Sriratna’ performed for the first time in Delhi
