Ayodhya

History

Main article: History of India

2024: Opening of the Rama Temple

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2024 opened the world's largest temple of the god Rama in the city of Ayodhya, built on the site of a Muslim mosque demolished more than 30 years ago.

The prime minister performed a number of rituals before consecrating the temple, including sleeping on the floor, fasting and drinking only coconut water to prepare for the ceremony, Indian media reported.

Opening of Rama Temple in Ayodhya in January 2024

Having completed the construction of the temple of the god Rama in Ayodhya, Narendra Modi fulfilled one of his main promises, which he made after being elected prime minister of the country following the results of the 2014 general elections.

The temple is installed on the site that believers associate with the birthplace of Rama, so it has a black idol of the deity at the age of five.

As of January 2025, to enter the territory, you need to hand over your phone and go through several armed guard posts.

Very rare foreigners are welcomed as guests of honor and missed without a queue along with important persons registered in advance.

2020: Construction begins on Rama Temple in Ayodhya and its 251m statue

In August 2020, Prime Minister Nerendra Modi arrived in Ayodhya, who took part in the laying ceremony at the foundation of the Ram Janmabhumi Temple (Rama Birthplace Temple) of the first block - a 40-kilogram pure silver ingot.

"I am grateful to have witnessed the historic event. Tens of millions of Indians can't believe this day has come. The whole country pronounces the name of Lord Rama! "Narendra Modi said then during a live broadcast from Ayodhya, which was hosted by the leading Indian television channels^[1].

In addition to the temple, the Indian government decided to build the world's tallest 251-meter statue of Rama in Ayodhya, representing one of the main gods of Hinduism in the form of a hero god with a battle bow behind him.

2019: India's Supreme Court hands over Ayodha site with mosque ruins for Rama temple construction

In 2019, after the country's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party triumphantly won the election for the second time, the Supreme Court of India issued a verdict according to which the disputed plot of land on which the Hindu-destroyed Babura Mosque in Ayodha was located was transferred to the Uttar Pradesh government for the construction of the temple of the god Rama.

In turn, the Muslim community was allocated a land plot of more than 2 hectares, located 25 km from the former mosque. It was here that the decision was made to build a new Babri Masjid.

The results of archaeological excavations at the site of the temple were politically motivated. Among the items examined were terracotta Hindu images from the Kushan Empire period (AD 100-300) and sandstone carved objects with images of Vaishnava deities and Shiva-Parvati. They concluded that these fragments belonged to a Nagar-style temple (900-1200 AD).

Finds were also discovered that allowed the presence of a Jain temple, a Buddhist stupa, a Muslim settlement and an earlier mosque on this site.

The Supreme Court in its landmark decision concluded that the building under the mosque was not Islamic, and also concluded that no evidence was found that the non-Islamic building was specially destroyed for the construction of the Babri Masjid mosque.

2002: Ceremony of consecration of the future temple of Rama in Ayodhya

In 2002, ten years after the destruction of Babri Masjid, activists of Hindu organizations held a ceremony in Ayodhya to consecrate the future temple, held under the slogan: "God Rama, we are coming!"

The action was led by the spiritual leader of Hindus, the main ideologist of the movement for the construction of the Rama temple in Ayodhya, 93-year-old Ramchandra Das Paramhans. "I will die for the temple of Rama. I will pray that God will give me a second life and I can return and build a temple, "Ramchandra Das Paramhans said at the time.

1992: More than 2,000 killed in Hindu destruction of Ayodha mosque

During the period of Muslim rule of India in Ayodhya, at the beginning of the 16th century, the Babri Masjid mosque was built in honor of the founder of the Mughal empire, Emperor Babur.

One of the classical architectural monuments of the Mughal period, Babri Masjid stood in Ayodhya until 1992, when activists of Hindu organizations declared the construction of the Babri Masjid mosque illegal and stated that before its construction in 1528, an ancient Hindu temple of the god Rama destroyed by Muslims stood on this site.

The main battle for the holy place unfolded in December 1992, when a crowd of thousands of Hindus stormed the Babur mosque to destroy it and clear the site for the construction of the Rama temple. Activists of Muslim organizations who rushed to Ayodhya to defend Babri Masjid clashed with the followers of the god Rama, but they could not stop the destruction of the mosque.

In 1992, Ayodhya experienced the bloodiest sectarian conflict since the partition of British India into India and Pakistan - at least 2 thousand people became victims of it. An even larger massacre was prevented only after troops were brought into Ayodhya. Taking control of the situation, the authorities banned construction on the disputed territory and fenced off the ruins of Babri Masjid.

After that, religious communities continued to fight for Ayodhya, challenging their rights in the Supreme Court and holding mass actions. As a result, the initiative finally passed to the representatives of the Hindu majority.

Among those demanding the return of the temple grounds to the Hindu community was BJP activist Narendra Modi, the future Prime Minister of India, who had already then vowed to return to Ayodhya to build a new Rama temple here.

500: Buddhist monasteries in Ayodhya

In the middle of the 1st millennium in Ayodha there were many Buddhist monasteries. Tradition connects the activities of the great Mahayana philosophers Asanga and Vasubandhu with this city. Jain texts (Jainism) consider Ayodhya the birthplace of the Tirthankars and the city where the ecumenical rulers of mythical antiquity reigned.

420: The Guptas Empire

Map of the Gupta empire around 420 AD e., according to Joseph E. Schwarzberg

500 BC: Gautama Buddha and Mahavira visit Ayodhya

Main article: Buddhism

Early Buddhist and Jain canonical texts mention that the religious leaders Gautama Buddha and Mahavira visited and lived in the city of Ayodhya.

600 BC: Mahajanapads

Koshala is an ancient state in. India It occupied the territory north of the middle reaches of the Ganges River (the later historical region of Oud and the southwest). Nepal

The date of the emergence of Koshala dates back to the 7th - beginning of the 6th centuries. BC e. Capitals - Ayodhya, then Shravasti. In Buddhist and Jain texts, Ayodhya is referred to as the capital of Koshala under the name Saketa.

Koshala reached its highest power in the 6th-5th centuries BC. e. It is mentioned in Indian historical sources as one of the "16 great states" (mahajanapad).

At the end of the 6th century BC. e. Koshala extended her power to a number of neighboring areas, including the principality of Kashi. According to Buddhist tradition, the rulers of Koshala seized and devastated the territory of the Shakyas, from where, according to legend, the Buddha came.

Under Tsar Prasenajit (5th century BC), Koshala suffered a crushing defeat from the state of Magadha and was forced to recognize herself as his vassal. In the 3rd century BC e. Koshala was absorbed by the Mauryan empire, after which it was no longer mentioned as a state entity.

Reign in Ayodhya of Bharata Chakravarti, son of the first tirthankar Adinath ( Ikshvaku)

Jain texts connect Ayodhya with the legendary Bharata Chakravarti - the eldest son of the first tirthankar Rishabhanatha (Adinatha, Ikshvaku). Not to be confused with the hero of the Indian epic Bharata from the Mahabharata.

In Atharvaveda and Brahmanas, ikshvaku are associated with non-Aryan people other than the Aryans, who composed the hymns of the four Vedas.

The ancient state of Bharata was named after him "Bharatavarsha," or "Bharata," or "Bharata-bhumi."

Ayodhya is birthplace of five tirthankars

Jain texts describe the city of Ayodhya as the birthplace of five Tirthankars, namely, Rishabhanatha (Adinatha, Ikshvaku), Ajitanatha, Abhinandananatha, Sumatinatha and Anantanatha. For more details, see Jainism Religion in India.

Notes