Ayodhya
Ayodhya | |
|---|---|
City | |
Vijayraghav Mandir Guptar Ghat on Sarayu River | |
| Nicknames: Ram Nagri, The Temple Town | |
%22%3E%3Ctext%20x%3D%2250%25%22%20y%3D%2250%25%22%20text-anchor%3D%22middle%22%20dominant-baseline%3D%22middle%22%20fill%3D%22%2354595d%22%20font-size%3D%2216%22%20font-family%3D%22sans-serif%22%3EAyodhya%20is%20located%20in%20Uttar%20Pradesh%3C%2Ftext%3E%3C%2Fg%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E)  Ayodhya location in India and Uttar Pradesh %22%3E%3Ctext%20x%3D%2250%25%22%20y%3D%2250%25%22%20text-anchor%3D%22middle%22%20dominant-baseline%3D%22middle%22%20fill%3D%22%2354595d%22%20font-size%3D%2216%22%20font-family%3D%22sans-serif%22%3EAyodhya%20is%20located%20in%20India%3C%2Ftext%3E%3C%2Fg%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E) Ayodhya Ayodhya (India) | |
| Coordinates: 26°47′57″N 82°12′16″E / 26.79917°N 82.20444°E | |
| Country |  India |
| State | Uttar Pradesh |
| Division | Ayodhya |
| District | Ayodhya |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipal Corporation |
| • Body | Ayodhya Municipal Corporation |
| • Mayor | Girish Pati Tripathi (BJP) |
| • Lok Sabha MP | Awadhesh Prasad (SP) |
| • MLA | Ved Prakash Gupta (BJP) |
| Area | |
• Total | 120.8 km2 (46.6 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 93 m (305 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
• Total | 55,890 |
| • Density | 462.7/km2 (1,198/sq mi) |
| Demonym(s) | Ayodhyawasi, Awadhwasi |
| Language | |
| • Official | Hindi |
| • Additional official | Urdu |
| • Regional | Awadhi |
| Time zone | UTC+05:30 (IST) |
| PIN(s) | 224001, 224123, 224133, 224135 |
| Area code | +91-5278 |
| Vehicle registration | UP-42 |
| Website | ayodhya |
image_alt. Replace with alt.pushpin_map_caption. Replace with pushpin_caption.pushpin_map_alt. Replace with pushpin_alt.image_caption. Replace with caption.settlement_type. Replace with type.timezone1. Replace with time_zone1.image_skyline. Replace with image.Ayodhya (Hindi: Ayodhyā, pronounced [ɐˈjoːd̪ʱjɐː] ⓘ) 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. Ayodhya became the top tourist destination of Uttar Pradesh with 110 million visitors in the first half of 2024, surpassing Varanasi.
The settlement was historically known as Sāketa until it was renamed to Ayodhya during the Gupta period. 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. The Ayodhya dispute was centred on the Babri mosque, built 1528–29 under the Mughal emperor Babur and said to have been built on top of a Hindu temple that stood at the birth spot of Rama. In 1992 a Hindu mob demolished the mosque, provoking riots throughout the country. In 2019, the Supreme Court of India announced the final verdict that the land belonged to the government based on tax records; 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.