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Ram Janmabhoomi

Coordinates:26°47′44″N82°11′39″E/ 26.7956°N 82.1943°E/26.7956; 82.1943
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Ram Janmabhoomi
Ayodhya is located in Uttar Pradesh
Ayodhya
Ayodhya
Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh)
LocationAyodhya
RegionUttar Pradesh
Coordinates26°47′44″N82°11′39″E/ 26.7956°N 82.1943°E/26.7956; 82.1943
Site notes
OwnershipShri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra[1]

Ram Janmabhoomi(lit.'Birthplace of Rama') is the site that, according toHindureligious beliefs, is the birthplace ofRama,the seventhavatarof theHindu deityVishnu.TheRamayanastates that the location of Rama's birthplace is on the banks of theSarayu riverin a city called "Ayodhya".Modern-dayAyodhyais in the north Indian state ofUttar Pradesh.It is contested whether the Ayodhya mentioned in the Ramayana is the same as the modern city.[2][3]

Some Hindus claim that the exact site of Rama's birthplace is within the grounds where theBabri Masjidonce stood in the present-day Ayodhya,[4]with this belief extending back to at least 1822.[3]It has been suggested that a temple to Rama formerly existed at the same site as the Babri Masjid until it was replaced by the mosque, an idea supported by a court-ordered report of theArchaeological Survey of Indiafollowing archaeological excavations around the ruins of the mosque, though the existence of this temple and the conclusions of the report aredisputed.[5][6]

The idols of Rama and Sita were placed in the mosque in 1949 and the devotees begin to gather from the next day.[7][8]In 1992, thedemolition of the Babri MasjidbyHindu nationaliststriggered widespread Hindu-Muslim violence. The legal dispute over the property reached theIndian Supreme Court,which heard the title dispute cases from August to October 2019.[9][10]On 9 November 2019, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Hindu parties and ordered the land to be handed over to a trust to builda Hindu temple.[11]The court also compensated the Muslims by providing them 5 acres of land to build a mosque. The court inferred that the foundation of the mosque was based on the walls of a large pre existing structure dating back to the 12th century whose architectural features are suggestive of Hindu religious origin.[12]The Supreme Court however concluded that there is time gap between the construction of the pre existing structure in 12th century and the construction of mosque in 16th century and no conclusion on the cause of destruction of the underlying structure from this era can be drawn based on the ASI report.[12]The temple was later inaugurated in January 2024.[13]

Historical significance

Ayodhya disputed site map

TheRamayana,a Hindu epic whose earliest portions date back to 1st millennium BCE, states that the capital ofRamawas "Ayodhya",which may not be the same as modernAyodhya[14][15]According to the local Hindu belief, the site of the now-demolishedBabri Mosquein Ayodhya is the exact birthplace of Rama. The Babri mosque is believed to have been constructed during 1528–29 by a certain 'Mir Baqi' (possiblyBaqi Tashqandi), who was a commander of theMughalemperorBabur(r.1526–1530).[16]

In 1611, an English travellerWilliam Finchvisited Ayodhya and recorded the "ruins of the Ranichand [Ramachand] castle and houses". He made no mention of a mosque.[17]In 1634,Thomas Herbertdescribed a "pretty old castle of Ranichand [Ramachand]" which he described as an antique monument that was "especially memorable".[18]However, by 1672, the appearance of a mosque at the site can be inferred because Lal Das'sAwadh-Vilasadescribes the location without mentioning a castle, house or temple.[19]In 1717, the Moghul Rajput nobleJai Singh IIpurchased land surrounding the site and his documents show a mosque.[20] The Jesuit missionaryJoseph Tiefenthaler,who visited the site between 1766 and 1771, wrote that eitherAurangazeb(r.1658–1707) orBaburhad demolished the Ramkot fortress, including the house that was considered as the birthplace of Rama by Hindus. He further stated that a mosque was constructed in its place, but the Hindus continued to offer prayers at a mud platform that marked the birthplace of Rama.[21]In 1810,Francis Buchananvisited the site, and stated that the structure destroyed was a temple dedicated to Rama, not a house. Many subsequent sources state that the mosque was constructed after demolishing a temple.[21]Buchanan also recorded that there was an inscription on the wall of the mosque stating it to have been built by Babur.

Police officer and writerKishore Kunal,who examined Buchanan's documents, states that all the claimed inscriptions on the Babri mosque were fake. According to him they were affixed sometime around 1813 (almost 285 years after the supposed construction of the mosque in 1528 CE), and later repeatedly replaced.[22]

Before the 1940s, the Babri Masjid was calledMasjid-i-Janmasthan( "mosque of the birthplace" ) in common parlance as well as official documents such as revenue records.[23]Shykh Muhammad Azamat Ali Kakorawi Nami (1811–1893) wrote: "the Babari mosque was built up in 923(?) A.H. under the patronage of Sayyid Musa Ashiqan in the Janmasthan temple in Faizabad-Avadh, which was a great place of (worship) and capital of Rama's father"[24]

H.R. Neville, the editor of theFaizabad District Gazetteer(1870), wrote that the Janmasthan temple "was destroyed by Babur and replaced by a mosque." He also wrote "The Janmasthan was in Ramkot and marked the birthplace of Rama. In 1528 A.D. Babur came to Ayodhya and halted here for a week. He destroyed the ancient temple and on its site built a mosque, still known as Babur's mosque. The materials of the old structure [i.e., the temple] were largely employed, and many of the columns were in good preservation."[25][26]

Al-Hind-u fi al – ‘Ahd al-Isami, by Maulana Shams Tabriz Khan describes "And among them is the great mosque that was built by the Timurid king Babar in the sacred city of Ajodhya. It is believed that Rama Chandra, considered to be the manifestation of God, was born here. There is a long story about his wife Sita. There was a big temple for them in this city. At a certain place Sita used to sit and cook food for her consort. Well, the said king Babar demolished it and built a mosque at that very place with chiseled stone in 923 A.H."[27]

Opposition to the claim

The earliest map of Ram Janmasthan at Ayodhya (1717 CE)

A section of historians, such asR. S. Sharma,state that such claims of Babri Masjid site being the birthplace of Rama sprang up only after the 18th century.[21]Sharma states that Ayodhya emerged as a place of Hindu pilgrimage only in medieval times, since ancient texts do not mention it as a pilgrim centre. For example, chapter 85 of the Vishnu Smriti lists 52 places of pilgrimage, which do not include Ayodhya.[28][15]

Many critics also claim that the present-day Ayodhya was originally a Buddhist site, based on its identification withSaketadescribed in Buddhist texts. According to historianRomila Thapar,ignoring the Hindu mythological accounts, the first historic mention of the city dates back to the 7th century, when the Chinese pilgrimXuanzangdescribed it as a Buddhist site.[29][30]: 25 

Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir

In 1853, a group of armed Hindu ascetics belonging to theNirmohi Akharaoccupied the Babri Masjid site, and claimed ownership of the structure.[31]Subsequently, the civil administration stepped in, and in 1855, divided the mosque premises into two parts: one for Hindus, and the other for Muslims.[32]

In 1883, the Hindus launched an effort to construct a temple on the platform. When the administration denied them the permission to do this, they took the matter to court. In 1885, the Sub Judge Pandit Hari Kishan Singh dismissed the lawsuit. Subsequently, the higher courts also dismissed the lawsuit in 1886, in favour of status quo. The lawsuit was dismissed on the grounds that creating a Hindu temple in close proximity to mosque would create a serious law and order issue. The District Judge held that it was ―most unfortunate that the Masjid should have been built on the land especially held sacred by the Hindus but since the construction had been made 358 years earlier, it was too late in the day to reverse the process.[12]

In December 1949, some Hindus placed idols ofRamaandSitain the mosque, and claimed that they had miraculously appeared there. Home MinisterVallabhbhai Pateland Prime MinisterJawaharlal Nehrudirected the state'sChief MinisterGovind Ballabh Pantto remove the idols, however Pant was not willing to remove the idols and added that "there is a reasonable chance of success, but things are still in a fluid state and it will be hazardous to say more at this stage".[33][34]By 1950, the state took control of the structure under section 145 CrPC and allowed Hindus, not Muslims, to perform their worship at the site.[35]

In the 1980s, theVishva Hindu Parishad(VHP) and otherHindu nationalistgroups and political parties launched a campaign to construct the Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir ( "Rama birthplace temple" ) at the site. In 1985, theRajiv Gandhigovernment allowed Hindus to access the site for prayers.[36]On 6 December 1992, Hindu nationalistsdemolished the mosque,resulting in communal riots leading to over 2,000 deaths.[37]

In 2003, theArchaeological Survey of India(ASI) conductedexcavationsof the site on court orders.[38]The ASI report indicated the presence of a 10th-century north Indian style temple under the mosque.[39]Muslim groups and the historians supporting them disputed these findings, and dismissed them as politically motivated.[40][41]The Allahabad High Court, however, upheld the ASI's findings.[42]The excavations by the ASI were heavily used as evidence by the court that the predating structure was a massive Hindu religious building.[43]

In 2009, theBharatiya Janata Party(BJP) released itselection manifesto,repeating its promise to construct a temple to Rama at the site.[44][45]

In 2010, the Allahabad High Court ruled that the 2.77 acres (1.12 ha) of disputed land be divided into 3 parts, with13going to theRam Lallaor Infant Lord Rama represented by theHindu Mahasabhafor the construction of the Ram temple,13going to the MuslimSunni Waqf Boardand the remaining13going to a Hindu religious denominationNirmohi Akhara.[46]All the three parties appealed against the division of disputed land to the Supreme Court.[47][48]

The five judgesSupreme Courtbench heard the title dispute cases from August to October 2019.[9][10]The court inferred that the foundation of the mosque was based on the walls of a large pre existing structure dating back to the 12th century whose architectural features are suggestive of Hindu religious origin. The Supreme Court however concluded that there is time gap between the existence of the pre existing structure in 12th century and the construction of mosque in 16th century and no archaeological evidence on the cause of destruction of the underlying structure from this era is available.[12]On 9 November 2019, the Supreme Court ordered the land to be handed over to a trust to build the Hindu temple. It also ordered to the government to give alternate 5 acre land to Sunni Waqf Board to build the mosque.[11]On 5 February 2020, the trust known asShri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetrawas created by thegovernment of India.

Other places

Those who believe that Rama was a historic figure, place his birth around 1800 BCE. However, the archaeological excavations at Ayodhya have not revealed any significant settlement before 500 BCE. Consequently, a number of other places have been suggested as the birthplace of Rama.[15]

In November 1990, the newly appointed Prime MinisterChandra Shekharmade an attempt to resolve theAyodhya disputeamicably. Towards this objective, he asked Hindu and Muslim groups to exchange evidence on their claims over Ayodhya. The panel representing the Muslim organization Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC) includedR. S. Sharma,D. N. Jha,M. Athar AliandSuraj Bhan.The evidence presented by them included scholarly articles discussing alternative theories about the birthplace of Rama. These sources mentioned 8 different possible birthplaces, including a site other than Babri Masjid in Ayodhya,NepalandAfghanistan.[49]One author – M. V. Ratnam – claimed that Rama wasRamses II,apharaohofancient Egypt.[50]

In his 1992 bookAncient geography of Ayodhya,historian Shyam Narain Pande argued that Rama was born around present-dayHeratinAfghanistan.[51]In 1997, Pande presented his theory in the paper "Historical Rama distinguished from God Rama"at the 58th session of the Indian History Congress in Bangalore. In 2000, Rajesh Kochhar similarly traced the birthplace of Rama to Afghanistan, in his bookThe Vedic People: Their History and Geography.According to him, theHarriud riverof Afghanistan is the original "Sarayu", and Ayodhya was located on its banks.[52]

In 1998, archaeologistKrishna Raoput forward his hypothesis aboutBanawalibeing Rama's birthplace. Banawali is anHarappansite located in theHaryanastate of India. Rao identified Rama with theSumeriankingRim-Sin Iand his rivalRavanawith theBabyloniankingHammurabi.He claimed to have deciphered Indus seals found along the Sarasvati rivers, and found the words "Rama Sena" (Rim-Sin) and "Ravani dama" on those seals. He rejected Ayodhya as the birthplace of Rama, on the grounds that Ayodhya and other Ramayana sites excavated byB. B. Laldo not show evidence of settlements before 1000 BCE. He also claimed that the writers of the laterepicsand thePuranasgot confused because the ancientIndo-Aryansapplied their ancient place names to the new place names as theymigratedeastwards.[53]

Archaeological Survey of India - Evidences

First Excavation

A team from the Archaeological Survey of India underB. B. Lalconducted a survey of the land in 1976–77.[54]They found 12 pillars of the mosque that were made from the remains of a Hindu temple. The base of the pillars had a Purna Kalasha which was a 'ghada' (water pitcher) from which foliage would be coming out. These symbols were found in almost all the temples of the 12th and 13th Century.[54]For Hindus, it is one of the eight auspicious symbols of prosperity also known as Ashtamangala Chinha.[55]The excavation team found many terracotta sculptures that depicted human beings and animals, a characteristic of a temple, not a mosque.[54]

Second excavation

In 2003, A 50 plus member team of Archeological Survey of India did the second excavation. They found over 50 pillars, hinting that below the mosque stood a Hindu temple that could be dated back to the 12th Century AD.[56]

Temple Pranali

The excavators further found a temple system that depicted a crocodile (a symbol of the Holy Ganga[57]) to signify a symbolic bath in the holy rivers of the Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati to wash off one's sins. They also got the temple 'pranali' (system). We have to bathe the deity and the 'abhisheka jal' flows through 'pranali'. This 'makara pranali' was also excavated.[54]

Kalasha, Amalkam Grivaha and Shikhara

The ASI team unearthed several remains of a temple's 'shikhara' (tower) from the mosque's premises, adding to the evidences of a Hindu structure underneath[54]ASI team also found another architectural member known as 'amalka'. Below the 'amalka' there is the 'grivah' and also the 'shikhara' portion of the temple in North India.[54]

Terracotta remains

The ASI archaeologists found 263 pieces of terracotta objects of gods, goddesses, human figures, female figurines that consolidated the theory that it was the site of a temple.

Vishnu Hari Shila Phalak

An inscription of 'Vishnu Hari Shila Phalak' was found on two remains found at the site that proved to be an important circumstantial evidence that stated the existence of a Hindu temple there.[54]


2023 excavations to construct new Rama Temple

In 2023, during excavation to make Rama temple after Supreme Court order, remains of ancient temple, idols, and pillars were found.[58]

In 2024, BR Mani, the archaeologist who led the 2003 excavations urged the central government to release the ASI report to put all the doubts regarding the report to rest.[59]He also interprets the evidence from excavations to claim that there was human force involved in the destruction of the found structure and the structure was not destroyed because of any natural calamity. He claims the destruction took place at about the same time when mosque was being built. Further, he says the court didn't comment on whether the destruction took place because ASI report was only meant to report findings and not interpret those findings. He said that excavations show that the history of the site can be traced back to 17th century BCE which contradicts the earlier scholarly claim that history of Ayodhya started at 7th century BCE[60]

Construction of Ram Mandir

Prime Minister Narendra Modi performing "Bhoomi Pujan" at the foundations of the temple in August 2020

TheShri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetratrust began the first phase of construction of the Ram Mandir in March 2020.[61]Prime MinisterNarendra Modiperformed Bhoomi Pujan and laid the foundation stone of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on 5 August 2020.[62]

See also

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Bibliography

Further reading

  • Engineer, Asghar Ali, ed. (1990).Babri Masjid Ramjanambhumi Controversy.Delhi: Ajanta Publications.
  • Bajaj, Jitendra, ed. (1993).Ayodhya and the Future of India.Madras: Centre for Policy Studies.
  • Dubashi, Jay (1992).The Road to Ayodhya.Delhi: South Asia Books.
  • Jain, Meenakshi (2017).The Battle for Rama: Case of the Temple at Ayodhya.Aryan Books International.ISBN978-8173055799.
  • Jha, Krishna; Jha, Dhirendra K. (2012).Ayodhya: The Dark Night.HarperCollins India.ISBN978-93-5029-600-4.
  • B. B. Lal (2008).Rāma, His Historicity, Mandir, and Setu: Evidence of Literature, Archaeology, and Other Sciences.Aryan Books.ISBN978-81-7305-345-0.
  • Nath, R. (1990).Babari Masjid of Ayodhya.Jaipur: The Historical Research Documentation program.
  • Nandy, A.;Trivedy, S.; Mayaram, S.; Yagnik, Achyut (1998).Creating a Nationality: The Ramjanmabhumi Movement and Fear of the Self.Oxford University Press.ISBN0-19-564271-6.
  • Rajaram, N. S.(2000).Profiles in Deception: Ayodhya and the Dead Sea Scrolls.New Delhi: Voice of India.
  • Sharma, Ram Sharan,ed. (1999).Communal History and Rama's Ayodhya(2nd ed.). Delhi: People's Publishing House.
  • Srivastava, Sushil (1991).Disputed Mosque, A historical inquiry.New Delhi: Vistaar Publication.ISBN978-81-7036-212-8.
  • Arun Shourie,Arun Jaitley,Swapan Dasgupta,Rama J Jois: The Ayodhya Reference: Supreme Court Judgement and Commentaries. 1995. New Delhi:Voice of India.ISBN978-8185990309
  • Arun Shourie,Sita Ram Goel, Harsh Narain, Jay Dubashi and Ram Swarup. Hindu Temples – What Happened to Them Vol. I, (A Preliminary Survey) (1990)ISBN81-85990-49-2
  • Thacktson, Wheeler M., ed. (1996).Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor.New York and London: Oxford University Press.
  • Varma, Thakur Prasad; Gupta, Swarajya Prakash.Ayodhya ka Itihas evam Puratattva – Rigveda kal se ab tak (History and Archaeology of Ayodhya – From the Time of the Rigveda to the Present)(in Hindi). New Delhi: Bharatiya Itihasa evam Samskrit Parishad and DK Printworld.
  • History versus Casuistry: Evidence of the Ramajanmabhoomi Mandir presented by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad to the Government of India in December–January 1990–91. New Delhi: Voice of India.
  • van der Veer, Peter (1989).Gods on Earth: The Management of Religious Experience and Identity in a North Indian Pilgrimage Centre.Oxford University Press.ISBN0485195100.