Ayodhya

Ayodhya
A·yodh·ya also A·jodh·ya (ə-yōdʹyə)
A former village of northern India on the Ghaghara River, now a joint municipality with Faizabad, near Lucknow. Long associated with Hindu legend, it is a pilgrimage center and one of the seven sites sacred to Hindus.

* * *

Town (pop., 2001 prelim.: 49,593), northern India.

Lying on the banks of the Ghaghara River just east of Faizabad, of which it is now a suburb, Ajodhya in ancient times was one of India's greatest cities; today it is one of the seven holy cities of Hinduism. It was the capital of Kosala, as described in the Ramayana. It became an important Buddhist centre in Buddhism's early years (6th–4th century BC), and the Buddha is said to have lived there. It is also sacred to followers of Jainism. In the 16th century the Mughal emperor Bābur built a mosque on a site traditionally associated with an ancient Hindu temple marking the birthplace of the god Rama. The storming of the mosque by Hindus in 1990, amid religious tensions, was followed by riots, and the ensuing crisis brought down the government. In 1992 the mosque was demolished by Hindu fundamentalists; more than 1,000 people may have died in the rioting that subsequently swept through India.

* * *

India
also called  Oudh  or  Awadh 
 town, south-central Uttar Pradesh state, northern India. It lies on the Ghaghara River (Ghāghara River) near Faizabad.

      An ancient town, Ayodhya is regarded as one of the seven sacred cities of the Hindus, revered because of its association in the great Indian epic poem Ramayana (Rāmāyaṇa) with the birth of Rama and with the rule of his father, Dasharatha. According to this source, the town was prosperous and well-fortified and had a large population.

      In traditional history, Ayodhya was the early capital of the kingdom of Koshala (Kosala), though in Buddhist times (6th–5th century BCE) Shravasti became the kingdom's chief city. Scholars generally agree that Ayodhya is identical with the town of Saketa, where the Buddha is said to have resided for a time. Its later importance as a Buddhist centre can be gauged from the statement of the Chinese Buddhist monk Faxian in the 5th century CE that there were 100 monasteries there. There were also a number of other monuments, including a stupa (shrine) reputed to have been founded by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka (3rd century BCE).

      The Kanauj kingdom arose in Ayodhya, then called Oudh, during the 11th and 12th centuries CE. The region was later included in the Delhi sultanate, the Jaunpur kingdom, and, in the 16th century, the Mughal Empire (Mughal Dynasty). Oudh gained a measure of independence early in the 18th century but became subordinate to the British East India Company in 1764. In 1856 it was annexed by the British; the annexation and subsequent loss of rights by the hereditary land revenue receivers provided one of the causes of the Indian Mutiny in 1857. Oudh was joined with the Agra Presidency in 1877 to form the North-Western Provinces and later the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, now Uttar Pradesh state.

      Despite the town's great age, there are few surviving monuments of any antiquity. The Babri Masjid (“Mosque of Bābur”) was built in the early 16th century by the Mughal emperor Bābur on a site traditionally identified as Rama's birthplace and as the location of an ancient Hindu temple, the Ram Janmabhoomi. Because of its significance to both Hindus and Muslims, the site was often a matter of contention. In 1990 riots in northern India followed the storming of the mosque by militant Hindus intent on erecting a temple on the site; the ensuing crisis brought down the Indian government. Two years later, on Dec. 6, 1992, the three-story mosque was demolished in a few hours by a crowd of Hindu fundamentalists. It was estimated that more than 1,000 people died in the rioting that swept through India following the mosque's destruction.

      The numerous Vaishnava shrines and bathing ghats are of no great age. Close to the modern town are several mounds marking the site of ancient Ayodhya that have not yet been adequately explored by archaeologists. Pop. (2001) 49,417.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Ayodhya — Ayodhya …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Ayodhya — La Babri Masjid ou Mosquée de Babur Administration Pays   …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Ayodhyâ — Ayodhya Ayodhya est une cité antique de l Inde, dans la périphérie de Faizabad en Uttar Pradesh. Elle est située sur la rive droite du Gaghra, à 500 km à l est de New Delhi. En sanskrit, ayodhyā signifie « qui ne peut être… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Ayodhyā — Ayodhya Ayodhya est une cité antique de l Inde, dans la périphérie de Faizabad en Uttar Pradesh. Elle est située sur la rive droite du Gaghra, à 500 km à l est de New Delhi. En sanskrit, ayodhyā signifie « qui ne peut être… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Ayodhya —    Ayodhya is located in North India on the Gogra River (formerly the Sharayu), just east of Faizabad in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the city where Lord RAMA, the AVATA R of VISHNU, was born and where he ruled. Rama’s story is told… …   Encyclopedia of Hinduism

  • Ayodhya — Infobox Indian Jurisdiction native name = Ayodhya type = city locator position = left latd=26.80 |longd=82.20 state name = Uttar Pradesh district = Faizabad altitude = 93 population as of = 2001 population total = 75000 area magnitude = 9 area… …   Wikipedia

  • Ayodhya — Original name in latin Ayodhya Name in other language Ajodhija, Ajodhjo, Ajodhya, Ajodkh e, Ajodkh ja, Ayodhya, Oudh, a yue ti ya, ayead dhya, ayod dha, ayodhaya, ayodhya, ayodhye, ayodia, ayodiya, ayotti, aywdya, x yoth ya, Айодх я, Айодхье,… …   Cities with a population over 1000 database

  • Ayodhya — Aiodhia (en inglés Ayodhya) es una pequeña ciudad del norte de la India, que cuenta con una población de 49 593 habitantes (2001). Se ubica sobre la orilla del río Ghaghara justo al Este de Faizabad. En la antigüedad, Aiodhia fue una de las… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Ayodhya dispute — Demolition of Babri Masjid Babri Masjid Ram Janmabhoomi …   Wikipedia

  • Ayodhya, The Finale — Science versus Secularism the Excavations Debate is a book by self described Hindu revivalist Koenraad Elst published in 2003 by Voice of India. This book is Elst s latest book on the Ayodhya debate, and is an intervention in favour of the… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”