Yogi Adityanath says India home to Korea’s spiritual ancestors

It is a matter of pride that many important places related to Buddha are in Uttar Pradesh, says chief minister Yogi Adityanath at a programme on completion of a 43-day padyatra by Jogye Buddhist Sangh of South Korea

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said India and South Korea are completing 50 years of their diplomatic relations, but the spiritual ties between the two countries are centuries’ old. “India is not foreign, but home to the spiritual ancestors of the Koreans,” he said.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath during a felicitation programme for South Korea’s Jogye Buddhist pilgrims on the success of their pilgrimage, in Lucknow on Wednesday. (PTI PHOTO)

The chief minister was speaking at a felicitation programme organised at the Buddhist Vihar Shanti Upvan here on Wednesday on the completion of a 43-day successful padyatra for the Buddhist pilgrimage of India by the Jogye Buddhist Sangh of South Korea. The padyatra was organised to mark the completion of half-centenary of diplomatic relations between India and South Korea.

Speaking on India-South Korea ties, the chief minister said: “Korea’s meditation cult Seon originated in Jetwan area of Shravasti district in Uttar Pradesh. The princess of Ayodhya travelled by waterway from Ayodhya to Korea about 2,000 years ago, where she married the local king, Kim Suro. The princess was named Heo-Hwang-ok. The Karak dynasty was established by Princess Heo-Hwang-ok and King Kim Suro. At present, a large population in Korea is associated with this lineage.”

Ayodhya and Korea’s Gimhae city are sister cities, Yogi Adityanath said.

The Dhamma of the Buddha was introduced in Korea via China by the Buddhist teacher Bodhidhamma of India, he said.

“In our country, too, there is a tradition of pilgrimage on foot. Panchkosi parikrama, Chaudahkosi parikrama, Chaurasikosi parikrama and Narmada parikrama are also considered very sacred in India. The monks of Jogye Buddhist Sangh should share the pleasant experience of visit to Uttar Pradesh with people of South Korea, it will inspire others to visit U.P,” he said.

Yogi Adityanath also noted that both India and South Korea were members of G20 .

“In the Amrit Mahotsav year of its independence, India has got the opportunity to chair the G20 group. This year, the theme of G20 is ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’. It connects us to the ancient “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” (the world is one family) spirit of India. Humanity remembers Lord Buddha whenever there is talk of friendship and compassion all over the world,” he said.

“Speaking in the United Nations, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi had said, ‘some countries may have given war to the humanity, but India has given Buddha to the world’. For the Buddhists, India is the centre of faith and belief. It is a matter of pride for Uttar Pradesh that many important places related to the life of Lord Gautam Buddha are located here. Lord Buddha spent two-thirds of his life in Uttar Pradesh,” the chief minister added.

Yogi Adityanath said Lord Buddha gave his first sermon at Sarnath near Varanasi.

He spent 25 varshavas, the four months of the rainy season, at Shravasti, Adityanath said, adding that his Mahaparinirvana place Kushinagar is also in Uttar Pradesh.

Shravasti, Kapilvastu, Devdah, Sankisa, Devgarh Lalitpur, Ahichhatra Bareilly and Kaushambi, all these are holy places of the Buddhist faith. At the centre of all these Buddhist sites is the state capital Lucknow, he said.

With the Prime Minister’s inspiration, all the holy places related to the life of Lord Buddha are being developed by the Uttar Pradesh government. The Kushinagar International Airport has become operational. The construction of the airport in Shravasti is going on a war footing. The Agriculture and Technology University in Kushinagar district is being established in the name of Mahatma Buddha, he said.

Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, the relations between India and South Korea are attaining new heights today, Yogi Adityanath said.

In 2018, the Prime Minister and the then President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in jointly inaugurated the new mobile phone manufacturing unit of Samsung Electronics in Gautam Buddha Nagar district. The mutual trade between India and South Korea is $28 billion in which India exports goods worth $9 billion and imports items worth $19 billion from South Korea, he said.

Uttar Pradesh tourism and culture minister Jaiveer Singh, India’s ambassador to South Korea Amit Kumar, Pujya Hosan of Jogye Buddhist Association of South Korea and South Korea’s deputy ambassador to India Sang Woo Lin expressed their views at the programme.