Ram Janmabhoomi (Hindi/Devanagiri: राम जन्मभूमि) is the "Birthplace of Lord Rama."Lord Rama is a
major God in Hindu theology and the Hindu religion where He is described as an Avatar
(incarnation) of Lord Vishnu in Hinduism. The exact location of Lord Rama's
birth as stated in holy Ramayan as being in the city of Ayoudhya in Uttar
Pardesh. From 1528 to 1853 (the year of the first riot regarding the
birthplace), the Babri Mosque was a place of worship for Muslims. From 1853 to
1949, separate areas were earmarked for both Hindus and Muslims to worship and
in 1949, Idols were placed inside the disputed structure. The site of the Babri
Mosque which was surrounded on all sides by Mata Sita Rasoi (Lord Rama's wife
Sita Devi's Kitchen - actually a Temple and other Temples of Hanuman) and the
disputed structure sharing walls with Sita and Hanuman Mandir was destroyed
when a political rally developed into a riot involving 150,000 people. This
happened due to the movement that was launched in 1984 by the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad (VHP party) to reclaim the site for Hindus who want to erect a temple
dedicated to the infant Rama (Ramlalla), at this spot.
Many Muslim organizations have
continued to express outrage at the destruction of the disputed structure.
Since then, the matter is sub-judice and this political, historical and
socio-religious debate over the history and location of the Babri Mosque, is
known as the Ayodhya Debate.
References such as the 1986 edition
of the Encyclopædia Britannica reported that "Rama’s birthplace is marked
by a mosque, erected by the Moghul emperor Babur in 1528 on the site of an
earlier temple".According to the Hindu view, the ancient temple could have
been destroyed on the orders of Mughal emperor Babur. Claims have been made
that worship took place on a platform called the "Ram Chabutara"
prior to Independence. According to British sources, Hindus and Muslims (who
came from Faizabad) used to worship together in the Disputed Structure in the
19th century until about 1855. P. Carnegy wrote in 1870:
"It
is said that up to that time, the Hindus and Mohamedans alike used to worship
in the mosque-temple. Since the British rule a railing has been put up to
prevent dispute, within which, in the mosque the Mohamedans pray, while outside
the fence the Hindus have raised a platform on which they make their
offerings." This platform was outside the disputed structure but within
its precincts. Hindu protagonists say that they have been demanding the return
of the site for centuries, and cite accounts from several western travellers to
India during the Mughal rule in India.
Chronology
of events
In 1528, the Babri Mosque was
constructed by Babur's general, Mir Baqi on the orders of Babur after
demolishion of Ram Mandir.
In December 1949, icons of Lord Ram
were placed (as found by the Allahbad High Court) in the Babri Mosque. The
semi-governmental Waqf Board, an Indian Muslim trust owned the land on which
the mosque stood. Both Hindu and Muslim parties launch civil suits. The Indian
government, declaring the site "disputed", locks the gates to the
mosque.
In 1984, a movement is started for
the creation of the Ram Janmabhoomi temple by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)
and Bharatiya Janata Party, under the leadership of L K Advani.
In 1986, a district judge of Uttar
Pradesh, orders the opening of the disputed structure to Hindus. This,
allegedly, came from the Congress government, headed by Rajiv Gandhi, which
tried to balance the favor shown to the Muslims in Shah Bano controversy.
In 1989- 1990, the VHP intensifies
its activities by laying foundations of the Ram temple on the adjacent
property. Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar proposes negotiations which only
intensify the crisis.
In 1992, on 6 December, the Babri
Mosque is forcibly demolished by Kar Sevaks. The then Narasimha Rao led Congress
government let a makeshift temple appear in its place before moving the courts
for status quo. The demolition of the mosque triggered large-scale rioting.
In 2005 Islamist terrorists attacked
the structure and were gunned down by security forces (for more information see
Ram Mandir Attack). On 3 April 2009 the Bhartiya Janta Party - BJP released
their Manifesto again promising to construct Ram Mandir.
In November 2009 details of the
Archeological survey are announced, which result in heated exchanges in the
Indian parliament.
Archaeology
of the site
Archaeological excavations by the
Archaeological Survey of India in 1970, 1992 and 2003 in and around the
disputed site have indicated a large ancient complex existed prior to the Babri
structure.
Joseph
Tieffenthaler
The Austrian Jesuit Joseph
Tieffenthaler wrote in 1768: “Emperor Aurangzeb demolished the fortress called
Ramcot, and erected on the same place a Mohammedan temple with three cupolas.
Others believe that it was constructed by Babor.” Tieffenthaler also writes
that Hindus celebrated Ram Navami (Rama's birth festival) in front of the
mosque, and that the mosque was built on a temple. He wrote: "The reason
is that here existed formerly a house in which Beschan (Vishnu) took birth in
the form of Rama and where it is said his three brothers were also born.
Subsequently Aurangzeb and some say Babur destroyed the place in order to
prevent the heathens from practising their ceremonies. However, they have
continued to practice their religious ceremonies in both the places knowing
this to have been the birth place of Rama by going around it three times and
prostrating on the ground."
The tradition of treating the site
as the birthplace of Rama appears to have begun in early l8th century. The
earliest suggestion that the Babri Mosque is in proximity to the birthplace of
Ram was made by the Jesuit priest Joseph Tieffenthaler, whose work in French
was published in Berlin in 1788. It says:
"Emperor Aurangzeb got
demolished the fortress called Ramkot, and erected on the same place a
Mahometan temple with three cuppolas. Others believe that it was constructed by
Babur. We see 14 columns of black stone 5 spans high that occupy places within
the fortress. Twelve of these columns now bear the interior arcades of the
Masjid; two (of the 12) make up the entrance of the cloister. Two others form
part of the tomb of a certain Moor. It is related that these columns, or rather
the debris of these columns, were brought from Lanka (called Ceylon by the
Europeans) by Hanuman, chief of the monkeys." which in French reads as
l'empereur Aurungzeb détruisit la forteresse appelée Ramkot et construisit sur le même emplacement un temple musulman avec 3 dômes. D'autres pensent qu'il a été construit par Babur. On peut voir 14 colonnes faites en pierre noire qui soutiennent des découpages ...... Plus tard Aurungzeb, ou, selon certains, Babur, détruisit l'endroit afin d'empêcher des païens de pratiquer leurs cérémonies. Toutefois ils continuèrent à pratiquer leurs cérémonies religieuses dans ce lieu, le connaisant comme celui de la naissance de Rama, en en faisant 3 fois le tour et en se prosternant à terre..
We see on the left a square platform
5 inches above ground, 5 inches long and 4 inches wide,
constructed of mud and covered with lime. The Hindus call it bedi, that is to
say, the birth-place. The reason is that here there was a house in which
Beschan, (Bishan-Vishnu) took the form of Rama, and his three brothers are also
said to have been born. Subsequently, Aurangzeb, or according to others, Babur
razed this place down, in order not to give the Gentiles (Hindus) occasion to
practice their worship. However, they continued to follow their practices in
both places, believing it to be the birthplace of Rama."
This record reveals that Aurengzeb
demolished the Ramkot fortress; that either he, or Babur constructed a Mosque
there; the 12 columns of black stone pillars were brought from Lanka; and when
veneration of Rama became prevalent after the 17th century, a small rectangular
mud platform was built to mark the birthplace of Rama.
Shykh
Muhammad Azamat Ali Kakorawi Nami
Shykh Muhammad Azamat Ali Kakorawi
Nami (1811–1893) wrote: ‘According to old records, it has been a rule with the
Muslim rulers from the first to build mosques, monasteries, and inns, spread
Islam, and put (a stop to) non-Islamic practices, wherever they found
prominence (of kufr). Accordingly, even as they cleared up Mathura, Bindraban,
etc., from the rubbish of non-Islamic practices, the Babari mosque was built up
in 923(?) A.H. under the patronage of Sayyid Musa Ashiqan in the Janmasthan
temple (butkhane Janmasthan mein) in Faizabad-Avadh, which was a great place of
(worship) and capital of Rama’s father’ (p. 9). ‘Among the Hindus it was
known as Sita ki Rasoi’ (p. 10). Zak Kakorawi, in his publication of the
work of Shykh Azamat Ali Kakorawi Nami, also includes an excerpt written by
Mirza Rajab Ali Beg Surur. Mirza Rajab Ali Beg Surur (1787–1867) wrote in
Fasanah-i Ibrat that ‘a great mosque was built on the spot where Sita ki Rasoi
is situated. During the regime of Babar, The mosque was built in 923(?) A.H.
under the patronage of Sayyid Mir Ashiqan… Aurangzeb built a mosque on the
Hanuman Garhi… The Bairagis raised the mosque and erected a temple in its
place. Then idols began to be worshipped openly in the Babari mosque where the Sita
ki Rasoi is situated,’ (pp. 71–72).
Guru
Nanak Dev
According to Bhai Man Singh's Pothi
Janam Sakhi (late 18th century), Guru Nanak visited Ayodhya and said to his
Muslim disciple Mardana: 'Mardania! eh Ajudhia nagari Sri Ramachandraji Ji ki
hai. So, chal, iska darsan kari'e. Translation: 'Mardana! this Ayodhya city
belongs to Sri Ramachandra Ji. So let us go for his darshan.'
Other
sources
A. Führer wrote that: 'Mir Khan
built a masjid in A.H. 930 during the reign of Babur, which still bears his
name. This old temple must have been a fine one, for many of its columns have
been utilized by the Musalmans in the construction of Babur's Masjid.'
H.R. Neville 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."
William Flinch, AD 1608,the British
historian William Flinch who stayed in India during AD 1608-11 gives a detailed
description of Ayodhya and the castle of Ramchand (Ramkot), "extensive
enough to undertake a search for gold." Though he does not mention the
birthplace of Rama, he gives a detailed account of the place where the ashes of
Ram are kept. "Some two miles on the further side of the river in a cave
of his with a narrow entrance, but so spacious and full of turnings within that
a man may well loose himself there if he taketh not better heed; where it is thought
his ashes were buried. Hither resort many from all parts of India, which carry
from thence in remembrance certain grains of rice as black as gunpowder which
they say have been preserved ever since."
In his Communal History and
Rama's Ayodhya, Professor Ram Sharan Sharma writes, "Ayodhya seems to
have emerged as a place of religious pilgrimage in medieval times. Although
chapter 85 of the Vishnu Smriti lists as many as fifty-two places of
pilgrimage, including towns, lakes, rivers, mountains, etc., it does not
include Ayodhya in this list." Sharma also notes that Tulsidas, who wrote
the Ramcharitmanas in 1574 at Ayodhya, does not mention it as a place of
pilgrimage. This suggests that there was no significant Hindu temple at the
site of the Babri Mosque.
According to Romila Thapar "If
we do not take Hindu theology in account the first historical description of
the city dates back recently to the 7th century, when the Chinese pilgrim Xuan Zang
observed there were 20 Buddhist temples with 3000 monks at Ayodhya, amongst a
large Hindu population. In 1528, nobles under Mughal emperor Babur constructed
a mosque over the disputed site. The mosque, called the Babri Masjid, has
become a source of contention for some Hindus. At the end of the 19th century,
Ayodhya contained 96 Hindu temples and 36 Muslim mosques. Little local trade
was carried on, but the great Hindu fair of Ram Navami held every year was
attended by about 500,000 people."
Alleged
censorship
Hindu parties cite that several
attempts to censor information regarding the destruction of the Ram Janmabhoomi
(and other temples) have been discovered. The book "Hindustan Islami Ahad
Mein" by Maulana Hakim Saiyid Abdul Hai, which included a chapter that
described the demolition of the Ram Janmabhoomi and other temples, was suddenly
missing in most libraries. The English version (1977) has the passages that
described the destruction of temples censored out.
The book Muruqqa-i Khusrawi by
Sheikh Mohammed Azamat Ali Nami, published by Zaki Kakorawi with the financial
aid of the F.A. Ahmad Memorial Committee, has a chapter describing the
destruction of the Ram Janmabhoomi censored out. Zaki Kakorawi later published
the relevant chapter independently. He wrote about this incident that the ‘suppression
of any part of any old composition or compilation like this can create
difficulties and misunderstandings for future historians and researchers’.
Allahabad
High Court verdict
On 30 September 2010, Allahabad High
Court ruled that the 2,400 square feet (220 m2) disputed land
in Ayodhya, on which the Babri Masjid stood before it was demolished on
December 6, 1992, will be divided into three parts: the site of the Ramlala
idol to Lord Ram, Sunni Wakf Board gets one third and Nirmohi Akhara gets Sita
Rasoi and Ram Chabutara.
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