Ayodhya Tourism – Ayodhya Travel Guide

Ayodhya

At a Glance

Population
4.51 lakhs

Area 79.8 km²

Geo Location
North

Average Climate
23 °C - 27.5 °C

Best time to visit
Throughout the year

Ayodhya Tour Packages »

Tourism in Ayodhya centers around history, culture and religion. One of the most ancient and holy cities of India, Ayodhya on the river Sarayu Ghaghra was the capital of Koshala and the birth place of Rama, the incarnation of Vishnu. Considered to be one of the seven sacred cities of India, Ayodhya, in historical times was probably the second capital of the Gupta Emperors in 4th-5th century. As per the Ramayana, Manu, the law-giver of the Hindu, had founded the city of Ayodhya. Ayodhya finds mention as one of the seven most sacred cities of India in several religious scriptures like Skand Purana. Ayodhya has been described in Atharva Veda, one of the four Vedas, as a city built by the gods and rivals with paradise in prosperity. Saket is another older name of the city as per historical Sanskrit, Buddhist and Jain, Greek and Chinese sources. The excavations revealing the inscriptions of Pushyamitra Shung have enhanced the archaeological importance of Ayodhya. The town remained not only under the halo of religion and spiritualism but also witnessed many political ups and downs for centuries. Fa Hein and Huen Tsang also visited Ayodhya.

Ayodhya has been the land of Ikshvaku ‘vansha’, a solar clan (Suryavansha). Ikshvaku, son of Vaivasvat Manu, was a king of Ayodhya. In Hindi & Sanskrit, earth is called ‘Prithvi’, named after King Prithu of Ikshvaku vansha, the solar clan (Suryavansha). King Harishchandra, known widely for his love of truth, also belonged to the same clan. A ghat in Varanasi, called Harishchandra Ghat, is named after him. As per Hindu scriptures, after performing ‘Ashwamedh Yajna’ a king is called ‘chakravarti’. King Sagar of Ikshvaku Vansha had performed Ashwamedh Yajna and his grandson brought the holy river Ganga on land by by virtue of his penance. Ikshvaku Vansh is also called as Raghuvansh or Raghukul after a great king Raghu in Suryavansh. King Dasharath, father of Lord Ram, was grandson of king Raghu. The glory of Ayodhya reached its pinnacle during the reign of King Dasharath who participated in Devasur Sangram, Great saint Valmiki by writing epic Ramayan immortalized & immensely popularized the glory of Ayodhya and Ikshvakuvansh among the masses.

Ayodhya is a city in Uttar Pradesh, India but it is a legendary city in Hindu and Jain mythology. It is the city which is described in Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh is the land of Lord Rama. Ayodhya is the town where Raja Ram was born and had grown up to become Maryada Purushottam. In addition to this, Ayodhya is also the place where lord Rama was exiled and the place he was bestowed with kingdom on returning after vanquishing evil. Ayodhya is a place that invokes inspiration among Indians while cutting across religious lines. There are many tourist attractions found all over the town, which are mainly religious places visited by thousands of pilgrims every year. It is also found that in ancient time Ayodhya had a great imprint on Hindu minds and wherever Hindus scattered they settled towns in the name of Ayodhya. The old capital of Thailand which was named as Ayodhya testifies to the fact. But, now what an irony of history that this great city of the Hindu is being beaten and defaced by the currents of time.

The early Buddhist and Jainism texts describe that Buddha and Mahavira had visited this city. There are also quite a few Jain faithful who visit Ayodhya, as against popular belief. This city holds great importance for Jainism because, as per the Jain mythology, five Tirthankaras were born at Ayodhya. These Jain Tirthankaras are Rishabhnatha, Ajitnatha, Abhinandannatha, Sumatinatha, and Anantanatha. It was Kesan Singh, the treasurer of Nawab of Faizabad, had built in 1781 AD five shrines to commemorate the birthplaces of these Tirthankaras.

It is said that in Ayodhya, being the birthplace of Ram, there was a temple spotting the birth of Ram, but the temple was demolished during the reign of Mughal ruler Babur and a mosque was constructed at that place. It has been much heated debate for a long time and continues even today.

Ayodhya has immense religious & cultural significance for India, the Hindu and mankind in general. All the places in Ayodhya somehow are related with Ram, who has been described in Hindu epics as God. Being the birth place of Ram, this place is one of the most visited pilgrimages. It is considered among Saptapuri – Seven Holy Religious Cities for the Hindus. Saptapuri is a group of pilgrimages which consist of places of birth of God or incarnation of God. It includes seven places such as Haridwar, Mathura, Kanchipuram, Ujjain, Banaras (Varanasi), Dwarika and Ayodhya. These places hold much importance for pilgrimage among the Hindu faithful.

The Hindu festival Deepawali has its origin in the story of Ram and Ayodhya. It is said that when Ram with Sita and Lakshmana returned after completing his 14 years of exile, the people of Ayodhya decorated the whole city lighting up the ‘diyas’ (earthen oil lamps) and, since then, the day is celebrated as the festival of lights, known as Deepawali. In Sanskrit language, ‘awali’ means ‘rows’ and ‘deep’ means earthen oil lamp; hence, Deepawali literally means rows of light lamps.

Visiting Ayodhya is a spiritual journey in search of India’s soul. Performing cultural and religious rituals and visiting numerous temples, several ghats and large numbder of ‘akharas’ & mutts are top things to do in Ayodhya.