Ayodhya

A very big temple made by 100% white marble.

Visitors to Ayodhya must make a move towards Hanuman Garhi. It is a massive structure in the shape of a four-sided fort with circular bastions at each corner. The temple is highly revered for its imposing architecture and its religious value.

The Bhawan is frequented by scores of visitors every year. The temple is widely known for the images of Sri Rama and Sita wearing gold crowns and because of this the Bhawan is also referred to as Sone-ka-Ghar.

It is said to be built by Kush, Lord Rama's son. Legend has it that he almost destroyed the water-living Nagas (semi-divine snake people) because he suspected them of stealing his amulet. Only Lord Shiva's intervention saved the semi-divine snakes. Khush then established this temple showing the Nagas worshipping Lord Shiva, his father's favourite deity. Another version of this legend states that the lost amulet was found by a Nag-kanya (young girl from the Naga tribe), who fell in love with him, and as she was Lord Shiva's devotee he constructed this temple for her.

It is a temple that stands at the place where Rama is said to have performed the Ashwamedha Yagna. The Raja of Kulu is said to have built a new temple here about 300 years ago called Kaleram ka Mandir, where the idols of Lord Rama, Sita, Lakshman and Bharat have reportedly been carved out of a single block of black sandstone. These idols are supposed to be from the original Rama temple, which once stood on the banks of the River Sarayu.

It is one of the best temple in Ayodhya, build in 2008. In this temple god Ram presented in 12 faces called Viswa-virat(world's big). This temple made by red marbles and stainless steel.

A multi-purpose stadium with a capacity of 30,000.

Constitutes a circular journey of 28 miles made once a year on the occasion of Akshainaumi, which is completed within 24 hours.

The enactment of the story of Lord Rama is believed to have been started by great Saint Tulsidas. The Ramcharitmanas, written by him till today forms the basis of Ram Lila performances. In some places, Rama Lila is associated with Vijayadashmi celebrations in late September and early October and also with Rama Navami, the birthday of Lord Rama. Ram lila, basically an enactment of a myth, is presented as a cycle-play with the story varying from 7 to 31 days. The Rama Lila performance evokes a festive atmosphere and enables observance of religious rites. It is also rich in performance of crafts such as costume jewellery, masks, headgear, make-up and decoration. The four main Ram Lila styles are the pantomimic style with a predominance of jhankis based style with multi-local staging; the operative style which draws its musical elements from the folk operas of the region and the stage, Ram Lila of the professional troupes called mandalis. Ayodhya is popular for mandali Ram Lila. The performance is dialogue – based and presented on a platform stage. High standard of performance is complemented by songs and kathak dances and eye-catching décor.

Ayodhya, the holy city of the sacred pilgrim centre of Hindus plays host to the Ram Navmi Festival in the month of April. Thousands of worshippers gather to venerate the Lord at Kanak Bhawan.

This mela celebrates the playful spirit of the deities. On the third day of the second half of Shravan, images of the deities (specially of Rama, Lakshman and Sita) are placed in swings in the temples. They are also taken to Mani Parvat, where the idols are made to swing from the branches of the trees. Later the deities are brought back to temples. The mela lasts till the end of the month of Shravan.

Ayodhya is perhaps the most noted place in the northern India where parikramas are undertaken by Hindu Pilgrims. These are circumambulations of important religious places and are of varying duration, shortest being the `Antargrahi Parikrama’ which has to be completed within a day. After taking a dip in the Saryu, the devotee commences the parikarma from the Nageshwarnath temple and passes through Rama Ghat, Sita Kund, Manipuravata and Brahma Kund, finally terminating at Kanak Bhawan. Then there is the `Panchkoshi Parikrama’ circuit of 10 miles, which touches Chakratirtha, Nayaghat, Ramghat, Saryubagh, Holkar-ka-pura, Dashrathkund, Jogiana, Ranopali, Jalpa Nala and Mahtabagh. On the way the people pay homage to deities in the shrines which are situated on the route.