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Ayodhya is described as the birth place of Hindu god Shri Ram. This Hindu holy city is described as early as in the Hindu Epics. During the time of Gautama Buddha the city was called Ayojjha (Pali). Under the British Raj the city and the administrative area around it was called Oudh. It is on the right bank of the river Sarayu, 555 km east of New Delhi. The word ayodhya is Sanskrit for "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 it was called Saketa. Saketa, was conquered by the great Kushan / Yuezhi Emperor Kanishka c. 127 CE, who made it the administrative centre of his eastern territories.The name occurs again in Faxian as (Pinyin: Shazhi) 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.
Ram Janmabhoomi refers to a tract of land in the North Indian city of Ayodhya which is believed to be the birthplace of the Rama. Prior to 1528, a famous and important temple stood at this site.
In 1528, the temple was demolished on the orders of Mughal invader Babur and a mosque was built on its ruins. This mosque came to be known as the Babri Masjid. The name Ram Janmabhoomi means "birthplace of Rama." On the morning of December 6 1992, the building which was known as "Babri Masjid" (The Mosque of Babur) by Muslims and "Ram Mandir" by Hindus on this spot was demolished by activists.
A movement was launched in 1984 by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad(VHP) eventually leading to the destruction of the building which stood here. The VHP wants to erect a temple dedicated to Ram Lala (infant Ram) at this spot. Many Muslim organizations, most of them accused of being fundamentalist in nature, on the other hand strongly oppose the building of the temple.
Skand and some other Puranas rank Ayodhya as one of the seven most sacred cities of India. It was the venue of many an event in Hindu mythology, today preeminently a temple town, The illustrious ruling dynasty of this region were the Ikshvakus of the solar clan (Suryavansa). According to tradition, Ikshvakus was the eldest son of Vaivasvata Manu, who established himself at Ayodhya. The earth is said to have derived its name `Prithivi’ from Prithu, the 6th king of the line. A few generations later came Mandhatri, in whose line the 31st king was Harischandra, known widely for his love of truth. Raja Sagar of the same clan performed the Asvamedha Yajna and his great grandson Bhagiratha is reputed to have brought Ganga on earth by virtue of his penance. Later in the time came the great Raghu, after whom the family came to be called as Raghuvamsa. His grandson was Raja Dasaratha, the illustrious father of Rama, with whom the glory of the Kausala dynasty reached its highest point. The story of this epic has been immortalized by Valmiki and immensely popularized by the great masses through centuries.
Ayodhya is preeminently a city of temples yet, all places of worship here, are not only of Hindu religion. At Ayodhya several religions have grown and prospered simultaneously and also at different periods of time in the past.
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