Ayodhya

Ayodhya ( ) is a city situated on the banks of the Sarayu river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ayodhya district as well as the Ayodhya division of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ayodhya became the top tourist destination of Uttar Pradesh with 110 million visitors in the first half of 2024, surpassing Varanasi. The settlement was historically known as Sāketa until it was renamed to Ayodhya during the Gupta period. The early Buddhist and Jain canonical texts mention that the religious leaders Gautama Buddha and Mahavira visited and lived in the city. The Jain texts also describe it as the birthplace of five tirthankaras namely, Rishabhanatha, Ajitanatha, Abhinandananatha, Sumatinatha and Anantanatha, and associate it with the legendary Bharata Chakravarti. From the Gupta period onwards, several sources mention Ayodhya and Saketa as the name of the same city. The legendary city of Ayodhya, popularly identified as the present-day Ayodhya, is identified in the epic Ramayana and its many versions as the birthplace of the Hindu deity Rama of Kosala and is hence regarded as the first of the seven most important pilgrimage sites for Hindus. The Ayodhya dispute was centred on the Babri mosque, built 1528–29 under the Mughal emperor Babur and said to have been built on top of a Hindu temple that stood at the birth spot of Rama.…

Ayodhya ( ) is a city situated on the banks of the Sarayu river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ayodhya district as well as the Ayodhya division of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ayodhya became the top tourist destination of Uttar Pradesh with 110 million visitors in the first half of 2024, surpassing Varanasi. The settlement was historically known as Sāketa until it was renamed to Ayodhya during the Gupta period. The early Buddhist and Jain canonical texts mention that the religious leaders Gautama Buddha and Mahavira visited and lived in the city. The Jain texts also describe it as the birthplace of five tirthankaras namely, Rishabhanatha, Ajitanatha, Abhinandananatha, Sumatinatha and Anantanatha, and associate it with the legendary Bharata Chakravarti. From the Gupta period onwards, several sources mention Ayodhya and Saketa as the name of the same city. The legendary city of Ayodhya, popularly identified as the present-day Ayodhya, is identified in the epic Ramayana and its many versions as the birthplace of the Hindu deity Rama of Kosala and is hence regarded as the first of the seven most important pilgrimage sites for Hindus. The Ayodhya dispute was centred on the Babri mosque, built 1528–29 under the Mughal emperor Babur and said to have been built on top of a Hindu temple that stood at the birth spot of Rama. In 1992 a Hindu mob demolished the mosque, provoking riots throughout the country. In 2019, the Supreme Court of India announced the final verdict that the land belonged to the government based on tax records; It further ordered the land to be handed over to a trust to build the Ram Mandir; which was consecrated in January 2024. It also ordered the government to give an alternate five acre tract of land to the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board to build the mosque. ===British period=== In the 1850s, a group of Hindus attacked the Babri mosque, on the grounds that it was built over the birthplace of the Hindu deity Rama. To prevent further disputes, British colonial authorities divided the mosque premises between Hindus and Muslims. Ayodhya was annexed in 1856 by the British East India Company (EIC). The rulers of Awadh were Shia, and the Sunni groups had already protested against the permissive attitude of the former government. The EIC intervened and managed to suppress the Sunni agitation. In 1857, the British annexed Oudh (Awadh) and subsequently reorganised it into the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. ===Shri Valmiki Ramayana Bhawan=== Shri Valmiki Ramayan Bhawan (श्री वाल्मीकि रामायण भवन) is a prominent religious and cultural site located in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India. The Bhawan is dedicated to Maharishi Valmiki, the Adi Kavi (first poet) and author of the Ramayana. The complex serves as a center for the recitation, study, and promotion of the Ramayana. Devotees and scholars gather here regularly to read and listen to the epic, keeping alive the spiritual and cultural heritage of Lord Rama’s life and teachings. The architecture of the building reflects traditional North Indian temple style with marble structures and decorative domes.

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