Ayodhya
| Ayodhya | |
| — city — | |
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| Coordinates | |
| Country |  India |
| State | Uttar Pradesh |
| District(s) | Faizabad |
| Population • Density |
49,650 (2001[update]) • 4,849 /km2 (12,559 /sq mi) |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| Area |
10.24 km2 (4 sq mi) • 93 metres (305 ft) |
Ayodhya pronunciation (Hindi: अयोध्या, IAST Ayodhyā) is an ancient city of India, the old capital of Awadh, in the Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya is described as the birth place of Hindu god Rama, and the capital of the ancient Kosala Kingdom. This Hindu holy city is described as early as in the Hindu Epics. Ayodhya has an average elevation of 93 metres (305 feet).
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Etymology
The name comes from the Sanskrit root yudh, meaning "fight" or "wage war," and it translates to either "not to be fought" or, less literally, "unconquerable." During the time of Gautama Buddha the city was called Ayojjhā (Pali).
In the first few centuries of the Common Era it was called Saketa. Śāketa, or 沙奇 (Pinyin: Shāqí) was conquered by the Kushan / Yuezhi Emperor Kanishka c. 127 CE, who made it the administrative centre of his eastern territories.[1][2] The name occurs again in Faxian as 沙祗 (Pinyin: Shāzhī) in the early fifth century. It is not clear when the name changed, but by the time of the visit of the Chinese pilgrim monk, Xuanzang, c. 636 CE, it was known as Ayodhya.
Under Mughal rule, it was the seat of the governor of Awadh, and later during the British Raj the city was known as Ajodhya or Ajodhia and was part of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, it was also the seat of a small 'talukdari' state.[3][4] It is on the right bank of the river Sarayu, 555 km east of New Delhi. The word ayodhya is Sanskrit for "unconquerable". Some Puranas like the Brahmanda Purana (4/40/91) consider Ayodhya as one of the six holiest cities in Hinduism.
The cities of Ayutthaya, Thailand, and Yogyakarta, Indonesia, are named after Ayodhya.
Legacy and importance
History of Ayodhya
Ayodhya is said to be one of the most ancient, magnificent and holy of Hindu cities. According to the ancient Hindu Scriptures, it is said to have covered an area of 250 km² (96 square miles), and was the capital of the powerful Hindu kingdom of Kosala (Kaushal). It is on the banks of the Gogra (Ghaghara or Saryu) River, bathing in which is supposed to destroy even the deadliest of sins. It stands on the right bank of the river Ghagra (or Saryu, as it is called within sacred precincts). The illustrious Ikshvaku of the solar clan (suryavansha) was the ruling dynasty of this region.
This city was ruled by 'Surya Vanshi' kings and it was the court of the great king Dasaratha, the 63rd monarch of the Solar line. King Dasaratha's son 'Shri Rama' was believed to be the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Lord 'Shri Rama' was born here. In the Atharvaveda, this place was described as a city that was made by gods and was as prosperous as heaven itself.
Saint Valmiki is said to have begun the writing of his famous devotional poem Valmiki Ramayana, also called the Ramayana. Other sages like Kamban and Tulsidas also wrote their verses of Ramayana in the praise and glory of the Lord Rama and the magnificent city of Ayodhya. Saint Tulsidas' Ramayana popularly known as Ramacharitamanasa sings the praise & glory of Lord 'Shri Rama'. It is one of the most revered scriptures of 'Sanātana Dharma' which speaks of idealism, selfless devotion, & piousness. This divine religious text is a source of inspiration, enlightenment & bhakti for billions across the world. Several Tamil Alwar mention the city of Ayodhya. The opening chapters of the Ramayana recount the magnificence of the city, the glories of the monarch and the virtues, wealth and loyalty of his people. Ayodhya is also said to be the birthplace of King Bharata (The First Chakravarti King), Bhahubali, Brahmi, Sundari, King Dasaratha, Acharya Padaliptasurisvarji, King Harishchandra, Shri Rama Achalbhrata, and the ninth Gandhara of Mahavir Swami.
The city is also important in the history and heritage of Buddhism in India, with several Buddhist temples, monuments and centers of learning having been established here during the age of the Mauryan Empire and the Gupta Dynasty. Ayodhya reached its glorious peak as known to history during the reign of the Guptas over India.
This city was also a significant trade centre in 600 BCE. Historians have identified this place as Saketa, a key Buddhist centre during the 5th century BCE (it is a widely held belief that Buddha visited Ayodhya on several occasions) which it remained till the 5th century CE. In fact, Faxian, the Chinese monk, recorded several Buddhist monasteries that he saw here.
Ayodhya has a historical significance for the Jain community too. This is the birth place of two important Jain tirthankaras who were born in the early centuries CE. Jain texts also stand testimony to the visit of Mahavira, Jainism's last tirthankar to this city. Ayodhya is also the birth place of five Tirthankars, including the first Tirthankar of Jainism, Shri Rishabh Dev. He is known as the father of the Jain religion.
Bhagwan Swaminarayan, founder of the Swaminarayan Sect of Hinduism lived here during his childhood years. It was from Ayodhya that Bhagwan Swaminarayan started his seven year journey across India as a 'Neelkanth'.
Amongst the 'Mokshdayani Puris' of the world meaning "the lands of spiritual bliss and liberation from the karma-bandhan," Ayodhya city holds a leading place, along with cities such as Varanasi, Dwarka and others. Ramcharitmanas and other respected Hindu scriptures like the Vishnu Puran, Shrimad Bhagvat Mahapuran and others emphasize the importance of living and visiting such religious places. According to them, these spiritually-charged cities increase the Punya (or 'fruits of virtuous and righteous actions') and Paap ('fruits of a person's wrong doings') of an individual many times over. Therefore people visiting and living in such holy cities are found doing noble and virtuous deeds.
Today people from various religious faiths of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Jainism live together united, making it a place of enormous sacred importance.
Historical Events
In the 7th century CE, Xuanzang (Hiuen Tsang), the Chinese monk, recorded spotting many Hindu temples in Ayodhya. In the epic Ramayana, the city of Ayodhya is cited as the birthplace of Lord Sri Rama, a Hindu deity who was worshipped as Lord Vishnu's seventh incarnation. Ayodhya became a famous pilgrimage destination in the 1400s when Ramananda, the Hindu mystic, established a devotional sect of Rama.
The Thai kingdom and city of Ayutthaya, and the Indonesian sultanate of Yogyakarta, were named after Ayodhya, reflecting the common Southeast Asian practice of adopting place names from Hindu kingdoms.
The Atharva Veda called Ayodhya "a city built by gods and being as prosperous as paradise itself".
According to an 11th century Korean chronicle the Samguk Yusa, the wife of King Suro of the ancient Korean kingdom of Geumgwan Gaya was a princess who travelled by boat from a faraway land called Ayuta to Korea in 48 CE. It is commonly thought that Ayodhya is the foreign land referred to in the Korean chronicles, but some scholars believe that the foreign land may have been Ayutthaya of Thailand. However, the local government of Ayodhya and the South Korean government validated and acknowledged the legitimacy of the connection and held a ceremony between the two governments to raise a statue of the princess on the banks of the Sarju River. The princess's adopted Korean name is Heo Hwang-ok, who was the first queen of Geumgwan Gaya Dynasty and is the ancestor of the Korean Kim family of Kimhae and the Heo surname lineages .
Ayodhya, like other Indian cities, was the victim of pillage and sacking during the Ghaznavi raids and Ghori invasions. Hindu temples were allegedly looted or destroyed. The cultural fabric was totally destroyed. With Muslim rulers established around the city under Mohammed of Ghor, it lost its strategic and economic importance to Lucknow and Kanpur.Ayodhya today is a small, rustic city with ancient Hindu architecture predominating, and with some Mughal influence. Its population is mostly Hindu with a minority of Muslims, Jains and Buddhists. However, its history and heritage hold an unequivocal importance for Hindus.
The 16th century witnessed a shift in power with Ayodhya coming under the rule of the Mughal Empire. Ayodhya was annexed in 1856 by the British rulers. Between 1857 and 1859, this place was one of the main centers where the sparks of the first war of Indian Independence originated. These sparks later led to a nationwide revolt of the Indian soldiers in opposition to the British East India Company that began in Calcutta.
Demographics
As of the 2001[update] India census,[5] Ayodhya had a population of 49,593. Males constitute 59% of the population and females 41%. Ayodhya has an average literacy rate of 65%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 66% of the males and 34% of females literate. 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Ayodhya debate
| Ayodhya debate |
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| Demolition of Babri Masjid |
| Babri Masjid |
| Ram Janmabhoomi |
| Archaeology |
| 2005 Ram Janmabhoomi attack |
| Liberhan Commission |
| People and organizations |
| Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh |
| L. K. Advani |
| Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Murli Manohar Joshi |
| Kalyan Singh |
| AIBMAC |
| Babur |
| Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Koenraad Elst |
Ayodhya is also the centre of the Ayodhya debate concerning the Babri Mosque which was built on the foundations of a Ram Janmabhoomi temple. Babar, the founder of the Mughal dynasty, was the namesake for the mosque. This temple was believed to be the actual birthplace of Lord Rama. The mosque was destroyed when a Hindu nationalist rally developed into a riot involving 150,000 people in 1992. A title suit on the disputed site is currently pending in the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court, with a judgment pending.
At present, there is a makeshift Ram mandir (temple) at Ram Janmabhoomi with a Ram Lalla idol. The idol was gifted by Chandresh Pandey of Jaipur Pandey Idol Museum, depicting Rama as a child with a benign smile is in a sitting posture over a blooming lotus. The 27 inch high idol is carved in white marble from the mines of Makrana in Rajasthan, is laced with gold. The palanquin is made of seasoned Rosewood brought from forest in Karnataka.[6]
Findings
The excavation carried out by Archeological Survey of India from 12 March 2003 to 7 August 2003 uncovered a variety of different structures and objects, including a 12 foot statue of Lord Hanuman and coins dating to early historic times and other historic objects were found.
Attack
On 5 July 2005, five Islamist terrorists attacked the site of the makeshift Ramlalla temple, in Ayodhya. All five were killed in the ensuing gunfight with the security forces guarding the area, and one civilian died in the bomb blast triggered while they attempted to breach the cordon wall.
See also
- Archaeology of Ayodhya
- Ramayana
- Ramacharitamanas
- Bhagwan Swaminarayan
- Hou Hanshu
- Ram Janmabhoomi
- Hanumangarhi
- Vaikunth Mandap
Footnotes
- ↑ Hill (2009), pp. 33, 368-371.
- ↑ Hill, John E. 2004. The Peoples of the West from the Weilüe 魏略 by Yu Huan 魚豢: A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265 CE. Draft annotated English translation.[1]
- ↑ Ajodhya State The Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1909, v. 5, p. 174.
- ↑ Ajodhya Town The Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1909, v. 5, p. 175.
- ↑ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. http://web.archive.org/web/20040616075334/http://www.censusindia.net/results/town.php?stad=A&state5=999. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
- ↑ http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2002/01/19/stories/2002011901441000.htm
References
- Hill, John E. (2009). Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. BookSurge, Charleston, South Carolina. ISBN 978-1-4392-2134-1.
Further reading
- Ayodhyā: The History of Ayodhya from the 7th Century BC to the Middle of the 18th Century: Its Development in to a Sacred Centre..., by Hans Bakker. Published by E. Forsten, 1986. ISBN 9069800071.
- Archeological Findings of Ayodhya Ruins
- Ayodhya and the Research on the Temple of Lord Ram
- The Babri Masjid demolition
- Legge, James (1886): A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms: Being an account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Hien of his travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399-414) in search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline. Oxford, Clarendon Press. Reprint: New York, Paragon Book Reprint Corp. 1965.
- Thomas, F. W. (1944): “Sandanes, Nahapāna, Caṣṭana and Kaniṣka : Tung-li P’an-ch’i and Chinese Turkestan.” New Indian Antiquary VII. 1944, p. 90.
- Watters, Thomas (1904–1905): On Yuan Chwang’s Travels in India. Thomas Watters. London. Royal Asiatic Society. Reprint: Delhi. Mushiram Manoharlal. 1973.
- Ajodhya State The Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1909, v. 5, p. 174.
External links
- Ayodhya travel guide from Wikitravel
- Ayodhya the spiritual abode. Complete details of Ayodhya, proofs and documents.
- Sri Ramar Temple, Ayodhya
- Ayodhya at Jainheritagecentres.com.
- Ayojjhaa in the Buddhist Dictionary of Pali Proper Names.
- Pilgrim Centers Of India
- Ayodhya map
- CNN Article on Ayodhya Conflict, Dec 6 2002
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