North India · Uttar Pradesh
Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh
Sources: wikimedia
Before you go
One of the Sapta Puri, Rama's birthplace; the new temple has made it one of India's busiest pilgrimages -- Ram Navami and Deepotsav (the Diwali eve lamp-lighting on the Saryu) are the peaks.
About Ayodhya
- Riverside
Where it is
Ayodhya is a city on the southern bank of the Saryu river in Uttar Pradesh, on the plains of the Awadh region about 130 km east of Lucknow, and the headquarters of Ayodhya district.
History
Identified with Saketa, a city of the ancient Kosala kingdom, Ayodhya appears in Buddhist and Jain texts as well as in the Ramayana, which makes it the capital of the Ikshvaku kings and the birthplace of Rama. In the 18th century neighbouring Faizabad was the first capital of the Nawabs of Awadh; the district was renamed Ayodhya in 2018, and the new Ram Mandir was consecrated in January 2024.
People
Ayodhya speaks Hindi and Awadhi, and its lanes hold hundreds of temples and maths whose sadhus and priests keep up daily worship, alongside shopkeepers, boatmen and farmers. Ram Navami, Deepotsav and the parikramas of the month of Kartik are its great gatherings.
Known for
- The Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir
- Hanuman Garhi and Kanak Bhawan
- Ram ki Paidi ghats on the Saryu
- Deepotsav, the Diwali-eve festival of lamps
- Ram Navami
Did you know?
Jain tradition holds that five tirthankaras, including the first, Rishabhanatha, were born in Ayodhya.
Shrines and sites
- Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir
- Hanuman Garhi
- Kanak Bhawan
- Saryu ghats
Traditions
- Hindu
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