Ayodhya

Ayodhya is one of the seven most sacred sites for Hindus. It is located near Faizabad in the Uttar Pradesh state of India. It is famous as Ram Janma Bhoomi. Many temples and places in this small town are associated with the birth and other events in the life of Lord Rama. 

Let us briefly explore various places in this town.

Swarg Dwar:

Ayodhya town, which was much more prominent once and the capital city of Raghu dynasty kings, is situated on the banks of the river Sarayu. The Naya Ghat and the surrounding areas are known as Swarg Dwar. It is the place where Lord Rama and his three brothers left this world and reached Vaikuntha. Taking a dip in this place is considered sacred for the Hindus.

Sarayu Temple:

All the holy rivers are worshipped as the deities by the Hindus. The legend associated with the most sacred river Ganga is viral. There are so many temples found for Ganga across the country. Like the Ganga temple, there are temples dedicated to other rivers that are not very common. There is a temple for the river Sarayu located in Ayodhya on the way to Nageshwarnath temple.

Nageshwaranath Temple:

There is a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva in Rama's birthplace. Lord Shiva is known as Nageshwaranath in this temple. 

As per the legend, Kusha, the son of Rama, started destroying the Nagas (serpents), mistaking them for stealing his amulet. After the intervention of Lord Shiva, he stopped that, and then he built this temple of Lord Shiva. 

As per another legend, he built this temple to get salvation from his sin of killing the Nagas . Another version states that a Naga girl found the lost amulet; she fell in love with Kusha and made him build this temple. 

One common factor in all these legends is that Kusha built this temple. This is a small temple but is considered very important. The temple tank is massive and is known as Rama Paundi. 

Kale Ram Temple:

Kale Ram Temple is also called Treta Ke Thakur Temple. It is situated at the place where Lord Rama performed Ashwamedha yagna. 

Around 300 years ago, the King of Kulu built the current structure of the temple. The presiding deity, Rama, is found seated with Sita, surrounded by his brothers, in the pattabhishek posture. 

The images are carved out of a single block of black sandstone. The belief is that these icons resemble the iconography of those icons in the original Rama temple that was destroyed many years ago. These are the oldest icons of Ram, Sita and his brothers that are found in Ayodhya today.

The holy books such as Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Vedas are kept in a separate shrine .

Valmiki Bhavan Temple:

Valmiki Bhavan Temple is huge, with a lot of small sculptures across the temple complex. The presiding deities are Valmiki Rishi along with Lava and Kusha, the sons of Lord Rama.

Hanuman Garhi:

Hanuman Garhi is one of the most famous temples in Ayodhya. Although everyone believes that the presiding deity of the temple is Hanuman, it is not true. The presiding deity is Anjana Devi holding the baby Hanuman on her lap. The temple is built on top of a small hill and fort-like walls surround the structure. 

Ram Janma Bhoomi:

Ram Janma Bhoomi is the place which is believed to be the birthplace of Lord Rama. Today, the metal icons of Ram, Lakshman, Bharat and Shatrughna as infants are kept in this temple. This is a highly secured site.

Lakshman Ghat:

Lakshman Ghat is the ghat on the river Sarayu where Lakshmana voluntarily gave up his life.

Ratna Sinhasan Temple:

The images of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana, along with Hanuman are the presiding deities of Ratna Sinhasan temple. There is another pair of Rama and Sita images plated with gold. It is the place where the pattabhishek (coronation) of Rama took place.

Dasharat Bhavan:

The metal icons of Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna along with their consorts are the presiding deities of Dasharat Bhavan. Besides, three pairs of Rama and Sita images are also found. It is the place where Dashrat's palace was located in the ancient time.

Kanak Bhavan:

Kanak Bhavan or Sone Ke Ghar has two pairs of Rama and Sita images. They have golden crowns on their heads.

Birla Mandir:

Birla Mandir is a modern-day temple dedicated to Lord Rama. Rama, Sita and Lakshmana are found in the sanctum.

Mani Parbat:

It is believed that it was formerly a Buddhist vihara which was converted into a Hindu temple. The temple has Rama and Sita as the presiding deities. The icon of Mani Bhagavan is also found. There is a small shrine for Hanuman. From this hilltop temple, one can get the aerial view of the entire Ayodhya town.

Beware of monkeys. You can find hundreds of monkeys everywhere in Ayodhya.

Happy travelling.

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