As construction crews race to complete the Ram Temple complex by June 2025, Ayodhya—once a quiet riverside town in Uttar Pradesh—stands as a testament to India’s layered past, where myth, archaeology, and legal battles have intertwined for centuries. The site’s transformation, from a disputed 2.77-acre plot to a sprawling spiritual center, continues to stir debates on faith, heritage, and communal harmony, even as pilgrims flock in growing numbers.
The temple’s first-floor opening is slated for January 2026, with the full structure, including ramparts and shoe racks, expected to wrap up next month under the oversight of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirath Kshetra Trust. Chairman Nripendra Mishra recently confirmed that a security wall—3,400 meters long and 16 feet high—will begin erection this month to fortify the perimeter, addressing concerns over crowd management at a site now drawing over 100,000 visitors daily. The June 5 consecration of the Ram Darbar, limited to religious rites without government dignitaries, marks a deliberate shift toward insulating the event from political overtones.
Ayodhya’s story predates the current fervor by millennia. Revered in Hindu epics as the capital of Kosala and birthplace of Lord Rama, the city traces its roots to the 7th century BCE, with archaeological layers revealing settlements from the Northern Black Polished Ware period around 700 BCE. Buddhist texts from the 5th century CE describe it as Saketa, a thriving urban center under the Mauryan and Gupta empires, evidenced by excavated stupas and monasteries. Jain and Buddhist traditions also claim historical ties, underscoring the site’s pluralistic antiquity before Hindu narratives dominated.
The modern dispute crystallized in 1528, when Mir Baqi, a general under Mughal emperor Babur, constructed the Babri Masjid on what Hindus believe was Rama’s birthplace. Archaeological digs by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 2003 uncovered remnants of a 12th-century temple beneath, including pillars and sculptures, fueling claims of prior Hindu structures—though the findings remain contested for their interpretive biases. Muslim historians point to the mosque’s uninterrupted use until 1949 as evidence of its legitimacy, viewing later encroachments as violations of waqf rights.
Colonial records from the 1850s document the first organized clashes, with British administrators erecting a fence to segregate worship areas after riots in 1853. A landmark 1885 civil suit by Mahant Raghubar Das sought permission to build a temple adjacent to the mosque, but the Faizabad district court dismissed it, citing potential unrest. Tensions simmered until December 22, 1949, when idols of Ram Lalla were placed inside the mosque, prompting its closure as a Muslim prayer site and sparking the first major post-independence legal wrangle.
The 1980s saw the issue escalate into a national flashpoint, with the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) launching a campaign for the temple’s reclamation. In 1986, a district judge ordered the mosque’s locks opened for Hindu worship, a move decried by Muslim leaders as discriminatory. The December 6, 1992, demolition by kar sevaks—attended by leaders of the BJP, RSS, and VHP—ignited nationwide riots claiming over 2,000 lives, mostly Muslim, and led to the site’s acquisition by the central government under a 1993 law. Subsequent trials acquitted key accused in 2020, a verdict criticized by human rights groups for procedural lapses.
Legal battles spanned three decades, with parallel suits in Allahabad High Court and the Supreme Court. A 2010 high court ruling divided the land three ways—among Hindu and Muslim claimants and the Nirmohi Akhara—only to be stayed on appeal. The Supreme Court’s November 9, 2019, judgment handed the disputed plot to Hindus for the temple while allocating 5 acres elsewhere for a mosque, invoking “equity” over strict title deeds and ASI evidence of a pre-existing non-Islamic structure. Critics, including some Muslim organizations, argued the ruling favored majoritarian sentiment over historical possession, though Sunni Waqf Board representatives accepted it to foster closure.
Construction began in 2020, culminating in the January 22, 2024, pran pratishtha ceremony led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, attended by select invitees amid boycott calls from opposition parties decrying it as premature. Since then, Ayodhya has undergone rapid urbanization: a new airport, railway upgrades, and heritage corridors have boosted tourism to 110 million visitors in 2024, injecting Rs 85,000 crore into the local economy but straining resources and displacing communities. Environmentalists warn of Saryu River pollution from unchecked development, while the proposed mosque at Dhannipur remains stalled, its foundation stone laid in 2020 but progress mired in funding disputes.
Historians like Irfan Habib caution against viewing Ayodhya solely through a binary lens, noting its syncretic past where Sufi shrines coexisted with Hindu temples. As the temple’s completion looms, the city grapples with reconciling reverence and reconciliation—its history a reminder that sacred spaces, like nations, are forged in the crucible of contested truths.
Last Updated on: Sunday, October 5, 2025 5:52 pm by News Trail Team | Published by: News Trail Team on Sunday, October 5, 2025, 5:52 pm | News Categories: India
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