A Story of ancient connection with Korea gets a play adaptation

Korean Cultural Centre India announces new plays based on ancient Ayodhya princess story

Delhi, July 2017: Korean Cultural Centre India will have award ceremony for playwriting contest on 1st August, 2017 at its auditorium, based on a story of Princess Hur from ancient Ayodhya, who is believed to have initiated the biggest family clan in Korea.

The Playwriting Competition that started from August 2016 was initiated by Korean Cultural Centre India in coordination of ASSITEJ India to develop the tale as a theatrical art. The marriage of Ayodhaya princess with King Suro of Gaya Kingdom that existed in south eastern region of Korean peninsula in AC 42 has been considered as representative connection between India and Korea.

Mr Kim Kum pyoung, Director of Korean Cultural Centre India, said “this old, ancient story has received a lot of attention lately. As Princess Hur, we would also like to build strong ties with India as a future partner.”

Only 10 scripts among the entries were selected to be fully written after the preliminary round. KCCI and ASSITEJ will announce the best 3 plays in the award ceremony. Screening and evaluation of the finalists are equitably done by Ms Tripurari Sharma, acting director of National School of Drama who was conferred with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for her contribution to the field of theatre direction, Amitabh Srivastava, winner of Sangeet Natak Academy Award for Acting, and Sukhesh Arora, acclaimed actor and master of theatre education.

The best script will carry a prize money of Rs. 1,00,000/- and two more recommended scripts will be awarded Samsung galaxy phones which costs round Rs. 25,000 each.

Legend of Princess Hur

Princess Hur or Hur Hwang-ok, a legendary queen in mentioned in a Korean chronicle written in 13^th century was the wife of King Suro of Geumgwan Gaya. She was a princess of the Ayuta Kingdom, generally identified as Ayodhya in India.. The Heavenly Lord appeared in her parents' dreams. He told them to send Heo to Suro, who had been chosen as the king of Gaya. The dream showed that the king had not yet found a queen. Heo's father then told her to go to Suro. The legend states that she arrived on a boat from a distant kingdom, and married the king in the year 48 CE. As the ‘Gimhae Kims’, and ‘Gimhae Heo’ clans identify their origin to the descendants of the king and queen, more than six million Koreans trace their lineage to Queen Hur.

ASSITEJ India

ASSITEJ India is an all-India association of theatre workers specialized in creating plays for children and young. It is affiliated to ASSITEJ, an international network of organizations and people working in the field of theatre for young audience. ASSITEJ India and Korean Cultural Centre have coordinated Storytelling program since 2015, a tour production consisting of three Korean folktales performed by ASSITEJ India artists.