Difference between revisions of "Ayodhya" - New World Encyclopedia
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=== Mob Attack === | === Mob Attack === | ||
On 5 July 2005, [[2005 attack on Ayodhya|five militants attacked]] the site of the makeshift Ramlalla temple, in Ayodhya. Security forces guarding the area shot all five in the ensuing gunfight, and one civilian died in the bomb blast triggered by the terrorists to breach the cordon wall. The claim of police that the militants came from [[Pakistan]] remains uncorroborated by independent evidence. The reason for the attack remains a mystery. | On 5 July 2005, [[2005 attack on Ayodhya|five militants attacked]] the site of the makeshift Ramlalla temple, in Ayodhya. Security forces guarding the area shot all five in the ensuing gunfight, and one civilian died in the bomb blast triggered by the terrorists to breach the cordon wall. The claim of police that the militants came from [[Pakistan]] remains uncorroborated by independent evidence. The reason for the attack remains a mystery. | ||
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| + | The '''Ayodhya debate''' is a political, historical and socio-religious debate that was prevalent especially in the 1990s in [[South Asia]]. | ||
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| + | The [[Babri Mosque]] was a [[mosque]] constructed by order of the first [[Mughal]] emperor of [[India]], [[Babur]], in [[Ayodhya]] in the 16th century. Before the 1940s, the mosque was called Masjid-i Janmasthan ("mosque of the birthplace").<ref>Sayyid Shahabuddin Abdur Rahman, Babri Masjid, 3rd print, Azamgarh: Darul Musannifin Shibli Academy, 1987, pp. 29-30.</ref> The mosque stood on the ''Ramkot ("Rama's fort") hill'' (also called ''Janamsthan ("birthplace")''. According to Hindus, it was built on the birthplace of the [[deity]] [[Rama]] after the Mughal rulers demolished the ''Ram Mandir'' ("Temple of Rama") on its location as they had done to many other temples around India.<ref>[http://www.voiceofdharma.com/books/tlmr/ch8.htm Legacy of Muslim Rule in India] Chapter 8</ref> The mosque was in turn destroyed by Hindu activists in a riot on December 6, 1992. | ||
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| + | == Before the demolition= = | ||
| + | {{main|Timeline of the Ayodhya debate}} | ||
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| + | It was until about 1990 the standard view that an ancient Ram Janmabhoomi temple was demolished and replaced with the Babri Mosque. References such as the 1986 edition of the [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] reported that "Rama’s birthplace is marked by a mosque, erected by the Moghul emperor Babar in 1528 on the site of an earlier temple".<ref>15th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1986, entry "Ayodhya," Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica Inc.</ref> According to one view, the ancient temple could have been destroyed on the orders of [[Mughal]] emperor Babur. This view is academically and politically controversial. | ||
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| + | == Politics == | ||
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| + | Many Indian observers see the controversy surrounding this mosque within the framework of [[Hindu fundamentalism]] and Hindu Revivalism. It was commonly believed by Hindus until about 1990 that the mosque stood on an ancient Hindu temple, though some commentators disagree and say that although the judiciary has been debating on the dispute of Babri Masjid (mosque) in Ayodhya for more than 40 years, it had remained a non-issue until the mid-1980s [http://www.csmonitor.com/1993/0203/03191.html]. The [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] of 1989 reported that the Babri Mosque stood "on a site traditionally identified" as an earlier temple dedicated to Rama's birthplace.<ref>"Rama’s birthplace is marked by a mosque, erected by the Moghul emperor Babar in 1528 on the site of an earlier temple", 1989 edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, entry "Ayodhya."{Template:Fact}</ref> According to their view, the ancient temple could have been destroyed on the orders of [[Mughal]] emperor Babur, though this view has been challenged. However, thousands of Hindu temples had been destroyed by Islamic invaders for both political and religious reasons. The 2007 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica notes that there is no temple structure in the ancient and holy Hindu places of Varanasi and Mathura which dates prior to the 17th century. | ||
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| + | The Hindu Nationalist movement has been pressing for reclaiming three of its most holy sites which had been suffered sacrilege at the hands of Islam - at Ayodhya, Mathura and Varanasi. L K Advani, the leader of the BJP in his memoirs argues "If Muslims are entitled to an Islamic atmosphere in Mecca, and if Christians are entitled to a Christian atmosphere in the Vatican, why is it wrong for the Hindus to expect a Hindu atmosphere in Ayodhya. | ||
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| + | This is often unpalatable to the minority Muslim community and to secularists, who consider this period as culturally Indian noting that these rulers made India their own home and enriched India's varied traditions. | ||
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| + | The legal case continues on the title deed of the land tract which is for the a government controlled property; while the Muslim parties have agreed to hand over the land (not unlike the [[Masjid Shahidganj]] case in Lahore where the Gurudwara was handed over to the [[Sikhs]]) <ref> [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/42303332.cms Lessons for Ayodhya from Lahore gurdwara] </ref> if it is proven a temple existed and demanding it be proven that it is indeed Ramjanmbhumi (i.e. Ram was born on this site) <ref> [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/36885584.cms Obeying court orders only course open: Muslim board] </ref>, the Hindu side wants a law in parliament to have it constructed saying faith in the existence of Ram Janmabhoomi can not be decided in a court of law. | ||
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| + | [[Nobel Laureate]] [[V. S. Naipaul]] praised [[Hindu Nationalist]]s for "reclaiming India's Hindu heritage"<ref>Naipaul, V.S, Beyond belief:Islamic Excursions Among the Converted Peoples,Vintage Books,1998</ref>. He further added that the destruction of Babri mosque was an act of historical balancing<ref>[http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20000508&fname=V&sid=1&pn=4 outlookindia.com<!--Bot-generated title—>]</ref> and the repatriation of the Ramjanmabhoomi was a "welcome sign that Hindu pride was re-asserting itself"<ref>Naipaul V.S. India, a million Mutinies now, Penguin 1992</ref> | ||
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| + | ===In fiction=== | ||
| + | *The Babri riots are depicted in the 1995 film [[Bombay (film)|Bombay]]. | ||
| + | * [[Taslima Nasrin|Nasrin, Taslima]]: [[Lajja]] | ||
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| + | == References == | ||
| + | {{reflist}} | ||
| + | |||
| + | == Further reading == | ||
| + | *[[Baburnama]]: Memoirs of [[Babur]], Prince and Emperor. 1996. Edited, translated and annotated by Wheeler M. Thacktson. New York and London: Oxford University Press. | ||
| + | *Ayodhya and the Future of India. 1993. Edited by Jitendra Bajaj. Madras: Centre for Policy Studies. | ||
| + | *Elst, Koenraad, [[Ayodhya: The Case Against the Temple]] (2002) ISBN 81-85990-75-1 | ||
| + | *Emmanuel, Dominic. 'The Mumbai bomb blasts and the Ayodhya tangle', ''National Catholic Reporter '' (Kansas City, [[August 27]] [[2003]]). | ||
| + | *[[Harsh Narain]]. 1993. The Ayodhya Temple Mosque Dispute: Focus on Muslim Sources. Delhi: Penman Publishers. | ||
| + | *R. Nath. Babari Masjid of Ayodhya, Jaipur 1991. | ||
| + | *A. Nandy, S. Trivedy, S. Mayaram, Achyut Yagnik ''Creating a Nationality: The Ramjanmabhumi Movement and Fear of the Self'', Oxford University Press, USA (1998), ISBN 0195642716. | ||
| + | *[[N. S. Rajaram|Rajaram, N.S.]] (2000). Profiles in Deception: Ayodhya and the Dead Sea Scrolls. New Delhi: Voice of India | ||
| + | *Thakur Prasad Varma and Swarajya Prakash Gupta:'' Ayodhya ka Itihas evam Puratattva— Rigveda kal se ab tak (‘History and Archaeology of Ayodhya— From the Time of the Rigveda to the Present’)''. Bharatiya Itihasa evam Samskrit Parishad and DK Printworld. New Delhi. | ||
| + | *Thapar, Romila. 'A Historical Perspective on the Story of Rama' in Thapar (2000). | ||
| + | *Thapar, Romila. ''Cultural Pasts: Essays in Early Indian History'' (New Delhi: Oxford University, 2000) ISBN 0-19-564050-0. | ||
| + | *Ayodhya ka Itihas evam Puratattva— Rigveda kal se ab tak (‘History and Archaeology of Ayodhya— From the Time of the Rigveda to the Present’) by Thakur Prasad Varma and Swarajya Prakash Gupta. Bharatiya Itihasa evam Samskrit Parishad and DK Printworld. New Delhi. (An important work on the archaeology of the temple.) | ||
| + | |||
| + | —> | ||
==Gallery== | ==Gallery== | ||
Revision as of 21:01, 31 July 2008
Ayodhya (Hindi: अयोध्या, Urdu: ایودھیا, IAST Ayodhyā), an ancient city of India, the old capital of Awadh, in the Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh has been described as the birth place of Hindu god Shri Ram. Ayodhya, located at [1] has an average elevation of 93 metres (305 feet).
Legacy and Importance
This Hindu holy city, described as early as in the Hindu Epics, had been called Ayojjhā (Pali) during the time of Gautama Buddha. Under the British Raj the city and the administrative area around it went by the name Oudh. Situated on the right bank of the river Sarayu, Ayodhya lay 555 km east of New Delhi. In Sanskrit, ayodhya means "not to be warred against." Some Puranas like the Brahmanda Purana (4/40/91) consider Ayodhya as one of the six holiest cities in Hinduism.
In the first few centuries of the Common Era, Ayodhya had the name Śāketa. The great Kushan / Yuezhi Emperor Kanishka Śāketa, or 沙奇 (Pinyin: Shāqí), who made it the administrative center of his eastern territories, conquered the city in c. 127 C.E..[2] The name occurs again in Faxian as 沙祗 (Pinyin: Shāzhī) in the early fifth century. When the name changed remains unclear, but by the time of the visit of the Chinese pilgrim monk, Xuanzang, c. 636 C.E., the city had the name Ayodhya.
| Ayodhya Uttar Pradesh • India | |
 | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| Area • Elevation |
10.24 km² (4 sq mi) • 93 m (305 ft) |
| District(s) | Faizabad |
| Population • Density |
75,000 (2001) • 7,324 /km² (18,969 /sq mi) |
| Codes • Pincode • Telephone • Vehicle |
• 224123 • +05278 • UP-42 |
Coordinates: Ayodhya had been one of the most ancient, largest and most magnificent of Indian cities, covering an area of 250 km² (96 square miles). The city served as the capital of the Hindu kingdom of Kosala (Kaushal), the court of the great king Dasaratha, the 63rd monarch of the Solar line in descent from Vivaswan or the Sun God. The son of Vivaswan "Viavswat Manu" founded the city of Ayodhya. The opening chapters of the Ramayana, a mythological religious epic of the Classical Hindu period, recount the magnificence of the city, the glories of the monarch and the virtues, wealth and loyalty of his people. Dasaratha, the father of Rama, had been the Seventh Avatar of the Vishnu. Many Hindus believe that Ram Janmabhoomi, the site of the demolished Babri Mosque, had been the birthplace of Rama. According to the Ramayana, the House of Ikshvaku, the son of Manu, ruled Ayodhya. Eventually, Rama ruled Ayodhya.
Ayodhya also served as the birth place of five Tirthankars, including the first Tirthankar of Jainism, Shri Rishabh Dev, known as the father of Jain religion. The city displays evidence of its importance 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 the peak of its golden age during the reign of the Guptas over India.
Bhagwan Swaminarayan, founder of the Swaminarayan Sect of Hinduism, lived here during his childhood years. Bhagwan Swaminarayan started his seven year journey across India as Neelkanth in Ayodhya. Tulsidas began to write his famous Ramayana poem Shri Ramacharitamanas in Ayodhya in 1574 C.E. Several Tamil Alwar mention the city of Ayodhya. Ayodhya had been the birthplace of Bhahubali, Brahmi, Sundari, King Dasaratha, Acharya Padaliptasurisvarji, King Harishchandra, Shri Rama, Achalbhrata, and the ninth Gandhara of Mahavir Swami.
The Atharva Veda called Ayodhya "a city built by gods and being as prosperous as paradise itself." Ayodhya had been the victim of pillage and sacking during the Ghaznavid raids and Ghorid invasions. Some Hindu temples had been looted and destroyed. Some believe that the Babri Mosque had been constructed on the remains of a temple, but that claim remains controversial. With Muslim rulers established around the city under Mohammed of Ghor, it lost its strategic and economic importance to Lucknow and Kanpur.
Ayodhya today exists as a small, rustic city with ancient Hindu architecture predominating, and with some Mughal influence. Its population, mostly Hindu, has a minority of Muslims, Jains and Buddhists. Its history and heritage hold an unequivocal importance for over Hindus in India and across the world. The Thai kingdom and city of Ayutthaya may have been named for Ayodhya, reflecting the common Southeast Asian practice of adopting place names from Hindu kingdoms.
According to an 11th century Korean chronicle the Samguk Yusa, the wife of King Suro of the ancient Korean kingdom of Geumgwan Gaya had been a princess who traveled by boat from a faraway land called Ayuta to Korea in 48 C.E. The common view has been that the Korean chronicles refer to Ayodha, but some scholars believe that the foreign land may have been Ayutthaya of Thailand. The Koreans know the princess as Heo Hwang-ok, the first queen of Geumgwan Gaya considered an ancestor by several Korean lineages.
Ayodhya Debate
| The Ayodhya debate |
|---|
| Timeline |
| Babri Mosque |
| Ram Janmabhoomi |
| Archaeology of Ayodhya |
| 2005 Ram Janmabhoomi attack in Ayodhya |
| People and organizations |
| L. K. Advani |
| All India Babri Masjid Action Committee |
| Babur |
| Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Koenraad Elst |
| Indian National Congress |
Ayodhya serves as the center of the Ayodhya Debate concerning the Ram Janmabhoomi temple and the Babri Mosque. Kar Sevaks and rioters destroyed the mosque in 1992 spurned by the belief that the Ram Janmabhoomi existed prior to the mosque's construction and that the temple had been the birthplace of Rama. The title suit on the disputed site awaits, pending, in the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court.
Mob Attack
On 5 July 2005, five militants attacked the site of the makeshift Ramlalla temple, in Ayodhya. Security forces guarding the area shot all five in the ensuing gunfight, and one civilian died in the bomb blast triggered by the terrorists to breach the cordon wall. The claim of police that the militants came from Pakistan remains uncorroborated by independent evidence. The reason for the attack remains a mystery.
]</ref> and the repatriation of the Ramjanmabhoomi was a "welcome sign that Hindu pride was re-asserting itself"[3]
In fiction
- The Babri riots are depicted in the 1995 film Bombay.
- Nasrin, Taslima: Lajja
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- ↑ Ayodhya Falling Rain Genomics, Inc. Retrieved June 18, 2008
- ↑ 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 C.E. Draft annotated English translation. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
- ↑ Naipaul V.S. India, a million Mutinies now, Penguin 1992
Further reading
- Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor. 1996. Edited, translated and annotated by Wheeler M. Thacktson. New York and London: Oxford University Press.
- Ayodhya and the Future of India. 1993. Edited by Jitendra Bajaj. Madras: Centre for Policy Studies.
- Elst, Koenraad, Ayodhya: The Case Against the Temple (2002) ISBN 81-85990-75-1
- Emmanuel, Dominic. 'The Mumbai bomb blasts and the Ayodhya tangle', National Catholic Reporter (Kansas City, August 27 2003).
- Harsh Narain. 1993. The Ayodhya Temple Mosque Dispute: Focus on Muslim Sources. Delhi: Penman Publishers.
- R. Nath. Babari Masjid of Ayodhya, Jaipur 1991.
- A. Nandy, S. Trivedy, S. Mayaram, Achyut Yagnik Creating a Nationality: The Ramjanmabhumi Movement and Fear of the Self, Oxford University Press, USA (1998), ISBN 0195642716.
- Rajaram, N.S. (2000). Profiles in Deception: Ayodhya and the Dead Sea Scrolls. New Delhi: Voice of India
- Thakur Prasad Varma and Swarajya Prakash Gupta: Ayodhya ka Itihas evam Puratattva— Rigveda kal se ab tak (‘History and Archaeology of Ayodhya— From the Time of the Rigveda to the Present’). Bharatiya Itihasa evam Samskrit Parishad and DK Printworld. New Delhi.
- Thapar, Romila. 'A Historical Perspective on the Story of Rama' in Thapar (2000).
- Thapar, Romila. Cultural Pasts: Essays in Early Indian History (New Delhi: Oxford University, 2000) ISBN 0-19-564050-0.
- Ayodhya ka Itihas evam Puratattva— Rigveda kal se ab tak (‘History and Archaeology of Ayodhya— From the Time of the Rigveda to the Present’) by Thakur Prasad Varma and Swarajya Prakash Gupta. Bharatiya Itihasa evam Samskrit Parishad and DK Printworld. New Delhi. (An important work on the archaeology of the temple.)
—>
Gallery
Countertenor Michael Chance as Ganesha in Somtow's opera "Ayodhya"
Râmâyana-Manuscript, Ayodhyâ-Kânda, Detail
Babri Mosque in Ayodhya
See also
- Ramayana
- Bhagwan Swaminarayan
- Hou Hanshu
- Ram Janmabhoomi
- Babri Mosque
- Hanumangarhi
- Prakash vir Shastri
Notes
References
- 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. New York : Paragon Book Reprint Corp. : Dover, 1965. ISBN 9780486267609.
- Mandal, D., and Shereen Ratnagar. 2007. Ayodhya: archaeology after excavation. New Delhi: Tulika Books. ISBN 9788189487317.
- "India Begins Search for Contentious Ayodhya Temple." 2003. SCIENCE -NEW YORK THEN WASHINGTON-. (5615): 1958. OCLC 205067478.
- "India's Hindus After Ayodhya." 2002. ECONOMIST -LONDON- ECONOMIST-. 12. OCLC 194357968.
- Irani, Cushrow. 2004. Ayodhya, demolishing a dream. New Delhi: UBPSD. ISBN 9788174764751.
- Rawat, Vidya Bhushan. 2002. Sufi shrines of Ayodhya. Ghaziabad: Vidya Bhushan Rawat. OCLC 66644862.
- Thomas, F. W. (1944): “Sandanes, Nahapāna, Caṣṭana and Kaniṣka: Tung-li P’an-ch’i and Chinese Turkestan.” New Indian antiquary. 1938. Bombay: Karnatak Publishing House, p. 90.
- Watters, Thomas. 1973. On Yuan Chwang's travels in India, A.D. 629-645. New Delhi: Munshiram Mancharial. OCLC 221256602.
External links
- Ayodhya. Retrieved July 31, 2008.
- Entry on Ayojjhaa - Buddhist Dictionary of Pali Proper Names. Retrieved July 31, 2008.
- Pilgrim Centers Of India. Retrieved July 31, 2008.
| Ramayana by Valmiki |
|---|
| Characters |
| Dasharatha | Kausalya | Sumitra | Kaikeyi | Janaka | Manthara | Rama | Bharata | Lakshmana | Shatrughna | Sita | Urmila | Mandavi | Shrutakirti | Vishvamitra | Ahalya | Jatayu | Sampati | Hanuman | Sugriva | Vali | Angada | Jambavantha | Vibhishana | Tataka | Surpanakha | Maricha | Subahu | Khara | Ravana | Kumbhakarna | Mandodari | Mayasura | Sumali | Indrajit | Prahasta | Akshayakumara | Atikaya | Lava | Kusha |
| Other |
| Ayodhya | Mithila | Lanka | Sarayu | Treta Yuga | Raghuvamsa | Lakshman Rekha | Aditya Hridayam | Oshadhiparvata | Sundara Kanda | Vedavati | Vanara |
| |||||||
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