Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) meets Mayor of Gimhae, Heo Seong-gon (L) in Seoul on Feb. 21, 2019. (image: Gimhae City Government)
GIMHAE, Feb. 25 (Korea Bizwire) – The city of Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province announced on Sunday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who recently visited South Korea, had offered a descendant seedling of the Bodhi Tree as a gift.
On the first day of his visit, Modi met with Gimhae Mayor Heo Seong-gon in Seoul and donated the seedlings from the Bodhi Tree at Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, India.
The seedling is the direct descendant of the Bodhi Tree that was around Mahabodhi Temple when Buddha came to achieve spiritual awakening in the 6th century BC.
India donated a Bodhi Tree seedling in the past as a symbol of friendship between South Korea and India, but as Gimhae city officials noted, this was the first time for India to present a seedling to a specific city.
The seedling will grow in a Korea Forest Service greenhouse and once it is fully grown, it will be sent to Gimhae for display.
The city of Gimhae and India share a special connection. According to ‘Samguk Yusa’, King Suro, the founder of the city-state of Geumgwan Gaya, had a wife, Heo Hwang-ok, who arrived in the city from the Ayuta Kingdom in India.
Gimhae has been actively cooperating with Ayodhya, the city in India known as Queen Heo’s original home. The two cities have a sisterhood relationship dating back 200 years.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
