Ayodhya

"Ayodhya Dham" redirects here. For other uses, see Ayodhya (disambiguation).
For the legendary city mentioned in ancient Sanskrit texts, see Ayodhya (Ramayana).

Ayodhya
City
Vijayraghav Mandir
Nickname: 
The Temple Town[1][2][3]
Ayodhya is located in Uttar Pradesh
Ayodhya
Ayodhya
Ayodhya is located in India
Ayodhya
Ayodhya
Coordinates: 26°47′57″N 82°12′16″E / 26.79917°N 82.20444°E / 26.79917; 82.20444
Country India
StateUttar Pradesh
DivisionAyodhya
DistrictAyodhya
Government
 • TypeMunicipal Corporation
 • BodyAyodhya Municipal Corporation
 • MayorGirish Pati Tripathi[4] (BJP)
 • Lok Sabha MPAwadhesh Prasad (SP)[5]
 • MLAVed Prakash Gupta (BJP)
Area
 • Total
120.8 km2 (46.6 sq mi)
Elevation
93 m (305 ft)
Population
 (2011[6])
 • Total
55,890
 • Density460/km2 (1,200/sq mi)
Demonym(s)Ayodhyawasi, Awadhwasi
Language
 • OfficialHindi[7]
 • Additional officialUrdu[7]
 • RegionalAwadhi[8]
Time zoneUTC+05:30 (IST)
PIN(s)
224001, 224123, 224133, 224135
Area code+91-5278
Vehicle registrationUP-42
Websiteayodhya.nic.in
This article contains Indic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text.

Ayodhya (Hindustani: [əˈjoːdʱjaː] ⓘ; IAST: Ayodhyā) 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.[9][10] Ayodhya became the top tourist destination of Uttar Pradesh with 110 million visitors in the first half of 2024, surpassing Varanasi.[11][12]

Ayodhya was historically known as Saketa. 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.[9][13] The Ayodhya dispute was centered on the Babri mosque, built 1528–29 under the Mughal emperor Babur and said to have replaced a temple that stood at the birth spot of Rama.[14] In 1992 a Hindu mob demolished the mosque, provoking riots throughout the country.[15] In 2019, the Supreme Court of India announced the final verdict that the land belonged to the government based on tax records;[16] 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.[17]

  1. ^ "Ayodhya decked up for 'Vikas Deepotsav'; over 9 lakh earthen lamps to illuminate temple town". November 2021. Archived from the original on 3 November 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Frenzied spiral grips Ayodhya, temple town turns festive burlesque ahead of Ram Mandir consecration". The Telegraph. 21 January 2024. Archived from the original on 21 January 2024. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  3. ^ "The Voices Of Ayodhya - Watch NDTV Special Episode From Temple Town". NDTV. 20 January 2024. Archived from the original on 22 January 2024. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  4. ^ "Meet Ayodhya's new mayor: A former UPSC aspirant and Mahant of a city mandir". Hindustan Times. 13 May 2023. Archived from the original on 20 May 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  5. ^ "Ayodhya, Kanpur, Gorakhpur and Gonda seats results LIVE updates: SP leads in Ayodhya as BJP's Lallu Singh falls behind". Hindustan Times. 4 June 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  6. ^ "AYODHYA in Faizabad (Uttar Pradesh)". .citypopulation.de. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  7. ^ a b "52nd Report of the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities in India" (PDF). nclm.nic.in. Ministry of Minority Affairs. p. 49. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  8. ^ "Awadhi". Ethnologue. Archived from the original on 6 June 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  9. ^ a b "District Ayodhya – Government of Uttar Pradesh | City Of Lord Rama | India". Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  10. ^ "About District". District Ayodhya – Government of Uttar Pradesh. Archived from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  11. ^ "Ayodhya top tourist destination in U.P. with 11 crore visitors". Hindustan Times. 15 September 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  12. ^ "Ayodhya emerges as the top destination in Uttar Pradesh with over 11 crore visitors". The Times of India. 16 September 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  13. ^ "How holy triangle has led to a mega surge in UP's tourist footfall - Times of India". The Times of India. 20 January 2024. Archived from the original on 21 January 2024. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  14. ^ Jain, Meenakshi (2017), The Battle for Rama – Case of the Temple at Ayodhya, Aryan Books International, ISBN 978-8-173-05579-9[page needed]
  15. ^ "Ayodhya verdict: No place for fear, negativity in 'New India', says PM". Business Standard. 9 November 2019. Archived from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  16. ^ "Ayodhya verdict: Supreme Court dismisses Shia Waqf Board's appeal, says land belongs to govt". India Today. 9 November 2019. Archived from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  17. ^ "Ram Mandir verdict: Supreme Court verdict on Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case". The Times of India. 9 November 2019. Archived from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.