True and devout Hindus believe that Bhagvan Sri Rama was born in Ayodhya, the then capital of a flourishing kingdom of the Suryavansa dynasty. Rama is venerated as Maryada Purushottam, and worshipped by Hindus everywhere. Sri Rama was the first truly national king of India, above regional, varna, or jati adherence. At his birth spot in Ayodhya, there stood a temple, but it was demolished by invading Islamic marauders and a mosque was constructed on the same spot that came to be known as "Babri Masjid." In Chapter X of the Report of the Archeological Survey of India, NW and Oudh (1889), it is mentioned that Babri Mosque "was built in A.D. 1528 by Mir Khan on the very spot where the old temple of Janmasthan of Ram Chandra was standing." It is now well established by GPRS- directed excavations done under the Allahabad High Court monitoring and verification in 2002-03, that a large temple did exist below where that Babri Masjid structure once stood. Inscriptions found during excavations describe it as a temple of Vishnu Hari who had killed the demon king Dasanan [Ravana]. This book, therefore, explores how, through legal measures and by consensus building amongst the vast majority of the Indian people, the Rama Temple can be re-built on the original spot where it had stood nearly half a millennium ago.

Ayodhya tussle - For Hindus, Ram Janma Bhoomi is a “Place of Veneration” and for Muslims, Babri Masjid is a “Place of Ritual Prostration”. The Babri Masjid (Mosque of Babur), the Tughlaq-style mosque, was built in 1528 by General Mir Baqi on the orders of Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur, the founder and first emperor of the Mughal dynasty in the Indian subcontinent. The building is facile with Islamic architectural elements but devoid of minarets (Call Towers for prayers), etc. The Babri Masjid was neither a mausoleum nor a cenotaph. The placing of Ram Lalla Idol on December 22, 1949 inside the Babri Masjid Central Dome became the aggravating point of the title dispute. The blood-curdling Ram-Janma-Bhoomi–Babri-Masjid dispute is over a tiny area of 2.77 acres of land out of the 3.287 million square kilometre vast tract of India. Solutions from the erstwhile British rulers and Indian Prime Ministers found no results. At last, it was the reign of the 14th Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Damodardas Modi, that witnessed the lawful solution – amicable both for the Hindus and for the Muslims. Now, the golden era of peace and prosperity, brotherhood and tolerance has blossomed in the Indian soil. The “Basic Structure” (Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity) enshrined in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution has been reaffirmed by this landmark judgment. We can assert that this book takes you to the inroads of the cementing facts and figures of the Ayodhya Dispute unravelled by this unanimous historical judgment of the Supreme Court of India.

Includes a chapter on circumstances leading to the demolition of the Babari Masjid, Faizabad, India, on December 6, 1992.

Exploring the meaning of a Buddhist story, this book is a testimony of faith in the urgent relevance of India's spiritual traditions to the future of life on Earth, and it is an inquiry into the meaning of some central notions of these traditions. The value of spiritual traditions and of life itself is at stake here. In the Introduction, Ramchandra Gandhi raises the Ayodhya issue to international and universal levels. In the text, he offers a solution on the local and national levels. The temple mound in Ayodhya --the sacred hill on which the present Babri Masjid was built, also known as "Sita's Kitchen"--was originally a sacred place of the Adivasis (the aboriginal inhabitants of the subcontinent). It was sacred to the Goddess, the great nurturing earth, the fecund source of all life, the aboriginal presupposition of all later religions. As an aboriginal place sacred to the Mother Goddess, the hill in Ayodhya brings together all religions. Rather than a source of conflict, Ayodhya should become a meeting ground for the divergent religious traditions of the world to see their ultimate harmony. In the Buddhist story, the principal female character is an adivasi named Ananya ("not other"). The opposing sides come to see their oneness in Ananya. The frame-story is taken from the Vinaya-pitaka of the Pali Canon. It is the Bhaddavaggiyavatthu or "The Story of the Group of Well-Off Ones."

This series aims at bridging the gap between historical theory and the study of historical memory as well as western and non-western concepts, for which this volume offers a particularly good example. It explores cultural differences in conceptualizing time and history in countries such as China, Japan, and India as well as pre-modern societies.

A spiritual history of India provides coverage of its sacred places, its core tenets, and the historical events of specific regions while sharing a basic introduction to Hindu religious ideas and how they have influenced modern India.

Suggests that the siege against Hinduism today is visible in 4 dimensions - religious, psychological, physical and Cultural.

On 9 November 2019, the Supreme Court, in a unanimous verdict, cleared the way for the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya. As we look back, we will be able to see how much we have lost over Ayodhya through the years of conflict. If the loss of a mosque is preservation of faith, if the establishment of a temple is emancipation of faith, we can all join together in celebrating faith in the Constitution. Sometimes, a step back to accommodate is several steps forward towards our common destiny. Through this book, Salman Khurshid explores how the greatest opportunity that the judgment offers is a reaffirmation of India as a secular society.

Are you a general reader or pilgrim on a religious and spiritual journey? Are you someone that is curious about historical aspects and local legends of a temple? This book, “Temples of India: Ancient, Medieval and Modern” helps you in answering those and takes you on a religious journey across India. Several ancient temples are currently decayed. However, Hinduism has stood as a great spiritual, religious, and moral force for over 2000 years in India and some countries of the Asian continent. “Temples of India: Ancient, Medieval and Modern” helps you uncover your curiosity about our temples that are rich in history. I have attempted to cover several hundred temples, some with extensive details and others briefly. To help the readers navigate easily, this book is organised with individual chapters dedicated to each state in India and focuses on the temples of 29 states of our country, especially ancient and medieval. Some states are covered extensively due to their rich history and existence of Hindu temples.