The National Gallery of Modern Art, Ministry of Culture along with Embassy of the Republic of Korea and Korean Cultural Centre India, together with the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, are holding a cultural exchange event in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Korea and India in New Delhi from March 21 to March 25.
To mark the occasion, for the first time Korean temple food will be introduced to the Indian public, media and local renowned chefs through an official event at Korean Cultural Centre India on this coming 25th March by Ven. Jeong Kwan. The food items will be baked chips made of lotus stem, potato and seaweed, served with lotus flower tea. In accordance with the teachings of Buddha who respected life, Korean temple food has preserved vegetarian food traditionally and it has formed one of the roots of Korean traditional food.
A special exhibition titled “An Encounter with Korean Traditional Buddhist Culture in India, the Land of Buddha” is also being organised. The exhibition will be held for about a month until 30th April and various experience programs such as painting Korean cultural items, experiencing Korean Buddhist scriptures inking, and making lotus lanterns will be held at the exhibition hall till 25th March in this week.
For the first two days, there was an overwhelming response from the teenagers and children by participation in the workshops. There were three sessions on lantern making, woodblock printing, colouring fans, and stringing prayer beads. More than 500 individuals have participated in the last two days.
The opening ceremony of the special exhibition titled “An Encounter with Korean Traditional Buddhist Culture in India, the Land of Buddha” was inaugurated by Shri Kumar Tuhin, Director General, Indian Council for Cultural Relations along with Smt. Temsunaro Jamir Tripathi, Director, National Gallery of Modern Art, and Korean Ambassador to India Chang Jae Bok on 22nd March (Wednesday) at National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA New Delhi). The exhibition consists of media art of Buddhist painting scrolls which are called ‘Gwae Bul’, a symbol of traditional Korean Buddhist rituals; Korean traditional lanterns of ‘Yeondeunghoe’, a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and various photo works with the theme of temple stay.
