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`Hyecho, a Buddhist monk from the Silla Kingdom, traveled to India and wrote `Wang-ocheonchukguk-jeon` (Accounts of Visits to the Five Lands of India) in 727 A.D. His memoir describes the culture, religion and customs of India. Korea and India, which have long maintained close ties through exchanges of the Buddhist culture, established diplomatic relations in 1973. The two nations have developed cooperative ties in all sectors of politics, economy, society and culture. Recently, Korea and India have been strengthening cooperation in the IT sector and more active exchanges in the future is anticipated. To commemorate the 30th anniversary of Korea-India diplomatic relations, a joint stamp is being issued. The stamp features the astrological observatories of the two nations: Gyeongjucheomseongdae and Jantar Mantar in Jaipur. Gyeongjucheomseongdae Cheomseongdae, which means `Star Gazing Tower`, is an astrological observatory built to study the movements of the celestial sphere. On top of the stone foundation that serves as support are layers of stones in the shape of fans. These stones are stacked in a cylinder shape and on top is the platform in the shape of the Chinese character `井` (jeong). Ancient records show that people climbed to the top of the tower using a ladder to observe the skies. The Cheomseongdae is believed to have been built during the reign of Queen Seondeok (A.D. 632 to A.D. 647) of the Silla Kingdom. Cheomseongdae is highly valuable as one of the oldest astronomical observatories of its kind in Asia and demonstrates the highly advanced scientific capabilities of the times. This important cultural asset has been designated as National Treasure No. 31. Jantar Mantar in Jaipur Jantar Mantar, the largest astrological observatory of India, was built from 1727 to 1728 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh, who took great interest in astrology. Jantar Mantar, a stone structure, was built to observe the movements of the constellation, sun, moon and planets in consideration of the astrological rule, location of the equator, the latitude and longitude. It consists of various geometric devices including the Giant Equatorial Sun-Dial, the Altitude Instrument, the Altitude/Azimuth Instruments, the Astrolabe and the Sextant. The time measured here is so impeccable that it does not deviate significantly with the standard time of India, which demonstrates the scientific prowess of ancient India.`