Ayodhya also known as Saketa, is an ancient city of India, believed to be the birthplace of Rama and setting of the epic Ramayana. It is adjacent to Faizabad city in the central region of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya used to be the capital of the ancient Kosala Kingdom. It has an average elevation of 93 meters (305 feet).
Owing to the belief as the birthplace of Rama, Ayodhya (Awadh) has been regarded as one of the seven most important pilgrimage sites (Saptapuri) for Hindus. It is believed that the birth spot of Rama was marked by a temple, which was demolished by the orders of the Mughal emperor Babur and a mosque erected in its place. The Ayodhya dispute concerns the activism by the Hindu groups to rebuild a Rama's temple at the site.
"Saketa" is the older name for the city, attested in Buddhist, Jain, Sanskrit, Greek and Chinese sources. According to Vaman Shivram Apte, the word "Saketa" is derived from the Sanskrit words Saha (with) and Aketen (houses or buildings). According to Hans T. Bakker, the word may be derived from the roots sa and ketu ("with banner"). The Adi Purana states that Ayodhya is called Saketa "because of its magnificent buildings which had significant banners as their arms".
Ayodhya was stated to be the capital of the ancient Kosala kingdom in the Ramayana. Hence it was also referred to as "Kosala". The Adi Purana states that Ayodhya is famous as su-kośala "because of its prosperity and good skill".
The cities of Ayutthaya (Thailand), and Yogyakarta (Indonesia), are named after Ayodhya.
According to ancient legends mentioned in Puranas, Manu, the progenitor of mankind, founded the city of Ayodhya and gave it to Ikshvaku to rule.Atharvaveda used the term to refer to the mythical city of gods with eight circles and nine entrances.
Valmiki's Ramayana, based on traditions dated to the fifth century BCE, centres its tale in a city called Ayodhya, the capital of Kosala. It was ruled by king Dasaratha, who is said to have been a descendant of Ikshvaku. Rama, his son, exiled to forests, returns to the city after several travails, and establishes an ideal rule in the kingdom. According to Uttara Kanda, a later addition to the Ramayana, Rama divides the kingdom into North and South Kosala at the end of his reign, with respective capitals at Shravasti and Kusavati, and installs his two sons (Lava and Kusa) to rule them. Rama himself enters the waters of the Sarayu river, along with all the inhabitants of the city, and ascends to heaven. The location of this mass suicide was the Gopratara Tirtha, according to the Mahabharata. A persistent local tradition states that Ayodhya became desolate after Rama's ascent to heaven and a "King Vikramaditya" of Ujjain revived it around 50 BCE. (In Raghuvamsa, Kalidasa narrates that Rama's son Kusa revived it.)
A verse in the Brahmanda Purana names Ayodhya among "the most sacred and foremost cities", the others being Mathura, Haridvara, Kashi, Kanchi and Avantika. This verse is also found in the other Puranas with sligh variations. In Garuda Purana, Ayodhya is said to be one of seven holiest places for Hindus in India, with Varanasi being the most sacrosanct.
Several other literary works based on the story of Rama also mention Ayodhyua. These include the Abhisheka and Pratimanataka by the poet Bhāsa (dated 2nd century CE or earlier), and the Raghuvamsha of Kalidasa (c. 5th century CE). The name "Ayodhya" appears as "Ayojjha" in Samyutta Nikaya and Ghata Jataka, where it is mentioned as the capital of King Kalasena. Buddhaghosha also refers to the construction of a vihara (monastery) in "Ayujjha-pura".
According to the Jain tradition, five tirthankaras were born at Ayodhya, including Rishabhanatha (first Tirthankara), Ajitanatha (second Tirthankara),Abhinandananatha (fourth Tirthankara), Sumatinatha (fifth Tirthankara), and Anantanatha (fourteenth Tirthankara).
Historically, Saketa is known to have been an important city of Ancient India by the 6th century B.C.E. During the Buddha's time it was ruled by Pasenadi (Sanskrit: Prasenajit), whose capital was at Sravasti. Saketa continued its prominence during the Maurya rule and suffered an attack around 190 BCE by a Bactrian Greek expedition allied to Panchala and Mathura. After the fall of the Maurya and Shunga dynasties, the city came under the rule of the Deva dynasty and Datta kings. An inscription found at Ayodhya refers to a king Dhanadeva, who claimed to be the sixth descendant of Pushyamitra Shunga.
Śāketa or 沙奇 (Pinyin: Shāqí) was conquered by the Kushan/Yuezhi Emperor Kanishka c. 127 CE, who made it administrative center of his eastern territories.[31][32]
Under the Gupta rulers, Ayodhya reached its highest political importance. The Chinese pilgrim Fa-Hsien visited the city in the 5th century CE, referring to it as "Sha-chi" (沙祗, Pinyin: Shāzhī). During the reign of Kumaragupta or Skandagupta, the capital of the empire was moved from Pataliputra to Ayodhya. The old name "Saketa" was replaced by "Ayodhya," and firmly identified as Rama's capital city. By the time of the visit of the Chinese pilgrim monk, Xuanzang, c. 636 CE, the city was known as Ayodhya.
After the Gupta empire was ravaged by the Huns, the political centre of North India shifted to Kanauj in the 6th century, and Ayodhya fell into relative oblivion According to Indologist Hans T. Bakker, the only religious significance of Ayodhya in the first millennium CE was related to the Gopratara tirtha (now called Guptar Ghat. The legendary epic Mahabharata, which mentions Ayodhya as the capital of Ikshavaku kings, states that Rama and his followers ascended to heaven by entering the Sarayu river at the Goparatara.
In the 11th century, the Gahadavala dynasty came to power in the region, and promoted Vaishnavism. They built several Vishnu temples in Ayodhya, five of which survived till the end of Aurangzeb's reign. Hans Bakker concludes that there might have been a temple at the supposed birth spot of Rama built by the Gahadavalas (see Vishnu Hari inscription). In subsequent years, the cult of Rama developed within Vaishnavism, with Rama being regarded as the foremost avatar of Vishnu. Consequently, Ayodhya's importance as a pilgrimage centre grew.
In 1226 CE, Ayodhya became the capital of the province of Awadh (or "Oudh") within the Delhi sultanate. Muslim historians state that the area was little more than wilderness prior to this. Pilgrimage was tolerated, but the tax on pilgrims ensured that the temples did not receive much income.
POSTED BY :VIPUL KOUL
Owing to the belief as the birthplace of Rama, Ayodhya (Awadh) has been regarded as one of the seven most important pilgrimage sites (Saptapuri) for Hindus. It is believed that the birth spot of Rama was marked by a temple, which was demolished by the orders of the Mughal emperor Babur and a mosque erected in its place. The Ayodhya dispute concerns the activism by the Hindu groups to rebuild a Rama's temple at the site.
The word "Ayodhya" is a regularly formed derivation of the Sanskrit verb yudh, "to fight, to wage war". Yodhya is the future passive participle, meaning "to be fought"; the initial a is the negative prefix; the whole therefore means "not to be fought" or, more idiomatically in English, "invincible".This meaning is attested by the Atharvaveda, which uses it to refer to the unconquerable city of gods. The 9th century Jain poem Adi Purana also states that Ayodhya "does not exist by name alone but by the merit" of being unconquerable by enemies. Satyopakhyana interprets the word slightly differently, stating that it means "that which cannot be conquered by sins" (instead of enemies).
"Saketa" is the older name for the city, attested in Buddhist, Jain, Sanskrit, Greek and Chinese sources. According to Vaman Shivram Apte, the word "Saketa" is derived from the Sanskrit words Saha (with) and Aketen (houses or buildings). According to Hans T. Bakker, the word may be derived from the roots sa and ketu ("with banner"). The Adi Purana states that Ayodhya is called Saketa "because of its magnificent buildings which had significant banners as their arms".
Ayodhya was stated to be the capital of the ancient Kosala kingdom in the Ramayana. Hence it was also referred to as "Kosala". The Adi Purana states that Ayodhya is famous as su-kośala "because of its prosperity and good skill".
The cities of Ayutthaya (Thailand), and Yogyakarta (Indonesia), are named after Ayodhya.
_Ayodhya_Ram_Paidi_Uttar_Pradesh_India_2013.jpg)
Ram Paidi ghat on the Sarayu river, Ayodhya.
Valmiki's Ramayana, based on traditions dated to the fifth century BCE, centres its tale in a city called Ayodhya, the capital of Kosala. It was ruled by king Dasaratha, who is said to have been a descendant of Ikshvaku. Rama, his son, exiled to forests, returns to the city after several travails, and establishes an ideal rule in the kingdom. According to Uttara Kanda, a later addition to the Ramayana, Rama divides the kingdom into North and South Kosala at the end of his reign, with respective capitals at Shravasti and Kusavati, and installs his two sons (Lava and Kusa) to rule them. Rama himself enters the waters of the Sarayu river, along with all the inhabitants of the city, and ascends to heaven. The location of this mass suicide was the Gopratara Tirtha, according to the Mahabharata. A persistent local tradition states that Ayodhya became desolate after Rama's ascent to heaven and a "King Vikramaditya" of Ujjain revived it around 50 BCE. (In Raghuvamsa, Kalidasa narrates that Rama's son Kusa revived it.)
A verse in the Brahmanda Purana names Ayodhya among "the most sacred and foremost cities", the others being Mathura, Haridvara, Kashi, Kanchi and Avantika. This verse is also found in the other Puranas with sligh variations. In Garuda Purana, Ayodhya is said to be one of seven holiest places for Hindus in India, with Varanasi being the most sacrosanct.
Several other literary works based on the story of Rama also mention Ayodhyua. These include the Abhisheka and Pratimanataka by the poet Bhāsa (dated 2nd century CE or earlier), and the Raghuvamsha of Kalidasa (c. 5th century CE). The name "Ayodhya" appears as "Ayojjha" in Samyutta Nikaya and Ghata Jataka, where it is mentioned as the capital of King Kalasena. Buddhaghosha also refers to the construction of a vihara (monastery) in "Ayujjha-pura".
According to the Jain tradition, five tirthankaras were born at Ayodhya, including Rishabhanatha (first Tirthankara), Ajitanatha (second Tirthankara),Abhinandananatha (fourth Tirthankara), Sumatinatha (fifth Tirthankara), and Anantanatha (fourteenth Tirthankara).
Historically, Saketa is known to have been an important city of Ancient India by the 6th century B.C.E. During the Buddha's time it was ruled by Pasenadi (Sanskrit: Prasenajit), whose capital was at Sravasti. Saketa continued its prominence during the Maurya rule and suffered an attack around 190 BCE by a Bactrian Greek expedition allied to Panchala and Mathura. After the fall of the Maurya and Shunga dynasties, the city came under the rule of the Deva dynasty and Datta kings. An inscription found at Ayodhya refers to a king Dhanadeva, who claimed to be the sixth descendant of Pushyamitra Shunga.
Śāketa or 沙奇 (Pinyin: Shāqí) was conquered by the Kushan/Yuezhi Emperor Kanishka c. 127 CE, who made it administrative center of his eastern territories.[31][32]
Under the Gupta rulers, Ayodhya reached its highest political importance. The Chinese pilgrim Fa-Hsien visited the city in the 5th century CE, referring to it as "Sha-chi" (沙祗, Pinyin: Shāzhī). During the reign of Kumaragupta or Skandagupta, the capital of the empire was moved from Pataliputra to Ayodhya. The old name "Saketa" was replaced by "Ayodhya," and firmly identified as Rama's capital city. By the time of the visit of the Chinese pilgrim monk, Xuanzang, c. 636 CE, the city was known as Ayodhya.
After the Gupta empire was ravaged by the Huns, the political centre of North India shifted to Kanauj in the 6th century, and Ayodhya fell into relative oblivion According to Indologist Hans T. Bakker, the only religious significance of Ayodhya in the first millennium CE was related to the Gopratara tirtha (now called Guptar Ghat. The legendary epic Mahabharata, which mentions Ayodhya as the capital of Ikshavaku kings, states that Rama and his followers ascended to heaven by entering the Sarayu river at the Goparatara.
In the 11th century, the Gahadavala dynasty came to power in the region, and promoted Vaishnavism. They built several Vishnu temples in Ayodhya, five of which survived till the end of Aurangzeb's reign. Hans Bakker concludes that there might have been a temple at the supposed birth spot of Rama built by the Gahadavalas (see Vishnu Hari inscription). In subsequent years, the cult of Rama developed within Vaishnavism, with Rama being regarded as the foremost avatar of Vishnu. Consequently, Ayodhya's importance as a pilgrimage centre grew.
POSTED BY :VIPUL KOUL
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