2026 Sarang festival to bring Indian dance, cinema and culture to audiences across Korea

The Embassy of India in Korea will hold the 12th edition of its annual Sarang festival from Sept. 15-22, with an Odissi classical dance troupe performing in six cities across the country.

The festival opens at Ewha Womans University's Samsung Hall in Seoul and closes at Wonkwang Digital University's Seoul campus. A separate film program follows in November.

Sarang began in 2015 as a small embassy event and has grown into the mission's flagship cultural program, introducing Koreans to Indian dance, music, cinema, art and cuisine. The name carries a double meaning for both countries: "sarang" means love in Korean, while the embassy translates it as a "medley of colors" in Hindi.

Each edition centers on a different Indian classical dance tradition. This year's is Odissi, from the eastern state of Odisha, a temple-rooted form distinguished by its sculptural poses, rhythmic patterns, expressive hand gestures known as mudras and detailed facial expressions, or abhinaya. Its traditional repertoire draws on devotional themes, particularly those associated with Lord Jagannath and the love of Radha and Krishna.

"India is so rich that each state boasts its own dance forms," Indian Ambassador to Korea Gourangalal Das said during a media briefing at the Indian Cultural Centre in Seoul, Monday. "We try to change and bring in new forms."

The visiting troupe is led by Madhulita Mohapatra, who trained at the Odisha Dance Academy. Mohapatra moved to Bengaluru in 2008 and founded the Nrityantar Academy of Performing Arts, building a following for Odissi in southern India, far from the form's home region. She received the Sangeet Natak Akademi's Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar and performs as an empaneled artist of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

After the Seoul opening, the troupe will perform at the ASEAN Culture House in Busan on Sept. 16, Gimhae Arts and Sports Center in South Gyeongsang Province on Sept. 17, Yoga Culture Town at Sunshine Miryang Theme Park in South Gyeongsang Province on Sept. 18 and Theater 3 at the National Asia Culture Center in Gwangju on Sept. 19. Two performances follow at the Eco Stage on Nami Island in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, on Sept. 20 and 21, before they return to Seoul for the closing event.

The embassy is running the tour with local partners including Seodaemun District Office, Gimhae City, Miryang City, Nami Island Arts and Education, the ACC and the India Centre at Busan University of Foreign Studies.

Workshops accompanying the performances are open to the public, an embassy official said, with registration handled through partner universities and venues. The Indian Cultural Centre in Seoul also runs regular classes in kathak, another Indian classical dance form.

Asked what set this year's festival apart, Das declined the premise.

"Sarang has been there for the last 11 years. It's an evolution," he said. "You won't see a dramatic difference this year."

He pointed instead to a more unified curatorial theme, particularly in the film program.

6 films, 6 cities

The 14th Indian Film Festival will screen six films with Korean subtitles across six cities in November. The embassy has proposed dates running from Nov. 3-29 but describes them as tentative, pending confirmation with partner venues.

The selections are "Queen," "Newton," "Manjhi – The Mountain Man," "Dum Laga Ke Haisha," "Sui Dhaaga" and "Sardar Udham." The embassy groups them around the theme of ordinary people showing extraordinary courage in difficult circumstances.

Screenings are planned for the Korean Film Archive in Seoul, Ungsang Culture Sports Center in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, the Asia Culture Center in Gwangju, Yoga Culture Town in Miryang, Mirim Theater in Incheon and the Busan Cinema Center.

None of the films are recent releases, a point Das addressed directly. Most were made within the past 10 to 15 years and are not carried on streaming platforms widely used in Korea, which he said was part of the reason for choosing them. He said their subjects — family, electoral politics, life in remote areas and entrepreneurial ambition — would resonate with young audiences in both countries.

Asked why Miryang appeared alongside cities the size of Seoul and Busan, Das said audience numbers were not the measure.

"The festival is not for thousands," he said. "It is to bring India closer to Korea."

Miryang promotes itself as Korea's yoga town, he noted, which made it a natural fit for an Indian cultural program.

He acknowledged that cultural traffic runs more heavily in the other direction, saying that Korean films and dramas have become a fixture in Indian households, including his own before he arrived in Seoul. Korean now ranks high among the languages young Indians are most interested in learning, he said.

Busier year in bilateral ties

The festival arrives during an unusually active year in bilateral relations. President Lee Jae Myung's state visit to India in April, the first by a Korean president in eight years, produced 25 outcomes, including a cultural exchange program running until 2030 and a memorandum on cooperation in cultural and creative industries.

Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited Seoul in May, addressing a defense industry roundtable and signing agreements in areas including peacekeeping and military training. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar followed in June, delivering a keynote address at the Jeju Forum. The two foreign ministries now meet frequently, Das said, at times almost monthly.

Two further rounds of negotiations to upgrade the Korea-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement were held in May and August. Gaps remain, Das said, but they have improved mutual understanding. The original agreement took effect in 2010, and he said much has changed in global trade since, particularly around supply chain resilience.

Several new channels are due to open. A first Economic Security Dialogue is being prepared for October, with a steel dialogue to follow in November and further talks planned under the two countries' Digital Bridge framework covering artificial intelligence and semiconductors. A joint working group between the Indian and Korean space agencies is expected to meet for the first time in the coming months.

Agreements have been signed to link the two countries' payment systems, Das said, with a pilot launch hoped for this year. Indian travelers will be able to use UPI in Korea, and Korean visitors will be able to pay through their own apps in India.

Room to grow

Asked what he considered the biggest untapped opportunity between the two countries, Das turned away from policy.

India sends between 1.3 million and 1.4 million students abroad each year, he said, and only a few thousand come to Korea. Skilled workers largely cannot come at all, and Indian professionals already in the country would like better living conditions for their families.

"In general the people-to-people relationship is sub-optimal and below par," he said.

He framed it as a shared loss rather than a Korean failing, noting that manufacturing is a priority for the Korean government and that the sector needs Indian students. He said he wanted to study how Vietnam and the Philippines have built larger, better-established communities here.

Work on that front is already underway. Preparations have begun for a Korean presidential visit to India in 2028, Das said, with discussions covering cultural artifacts, performances and archaeology.

India is separately preparing to donate some 200 artifacts to Gimhae for a planned museum there, honoring the legend of Queen Heo Hwang-ok, said to have traveled from India two millennia ago to marry King Suro of Geumgwan Gaya. It is the oldest story the two countries share, and one the embassy returns to often.

Agrim Bhalla recently completed his studies in hotel management (English track) at Kyung Hee University. His interests include storytelling, culture and visual media.