-D K Hari & D K Hema Hari-
While the name Ayodhya has symbolised “No war (Yuddha), “a place that
cannot be won in war”, the city of Ayodhya has been embroiled in a war of faiths for the last 500 odd years.
In our work on the Indian civilisation, as part of tracing the historical timeline of ancient India, we have been able to place and corroborate the historicity of personages such as Rama, Krishna and many other legendary figures of ancient India, with modern methods of tracking time and history.
This not only establishes these
personages to be historical but also implies that their descendants would also have been historical and in flesh and blood. Where did the descendants of Rama live? Did they all continue to live in Ayodhya or did they move
elsewhere? If so, where all did they go?
Spread of Rama’s Lineage
Tracing the history of Ayodhya and its descendants, we find traces of this dynasty all over India as well as the world, stretching from Far East in Korea, to Southeast Asia in Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia and going west upto Russia, Egypt, Iraq, Turkey and many more lands. The ancestry of King Shuddhodana, the father of Buddha, has been traced in Buddhist works, to the Ikshvaku lineage,
the same Surya Vamsa, Solar dynasty as Rama.
The Sikhs of the Sodhi and Vedi clan are descendants of Luva and Kusha, the twin sons of Rama respectively. The 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh was a Sodhi and thus a
descendant of Luva. Guru Nanak Dev Himself, a Vedi, also traces His lineage to Kusha. This makes the Sikhs also a joint stakeholder of Ayodha, Rama and the temple at Rama Janmabhoomi.
Infact, Guru Nanak Dev was a
contemporary of Babar. Guru Nanak Dev is probably the last Indian saint to have visited the temple at Ayodhya before it was demolished. As narrated to Bhai Mardana, his disciple, he was visiting Ayodhya and the birth place of Rama, because it was his ancestral home, as a descendant of Kusha.
When the kings of Thailand get anointed as Rama I, II to Rama X for the latest king living today, it also shows how the Thai kings consider
themselves to be a part of the Rama lineage. When the Indonesian King signs any proclamation, he signs it with the words “at the feet of Sri Rama”, showing how they are bound with Rama and His Ayodhya.
When the princess from Ayodhya went to Korea and married the Korean King, she gave rise to the Kim dynasty of Korea which is many million strong today. They all openly acknowledge and owe their descent to Ayodhya and Rama’s lineage.
When Egyptian Pharaohs took on the name Ramses, i.e. RMS (Ra Ma Sa) in the local language, they were openly claiming their link with Rama and Ayodhya. When the Mittani and Hittite kings in the region of Anatolia (Turkey), Sumeria and Mesopotamia signed treaties, they signed under the names such as Dashratha and other names which can be found in the
lineage of Rama. When the cliffs in Iraq bear carvings of figures like Rama and name like Rama, they show the
movement of those connected with Rama and Ayodhya through those regions. There are many more such links, across the world.
People in all these regions did not belong to the Hindu religion then and now. Yet they all are stakeholders of Ayodhya, the place of birth of their forefather/ancestor/leader called Rama.
Knowledge of these facts, shifts the Ayodhya issue from the ambit of a Hindu-Muslim 500 year old war of faiths alone, to the realm of an issue that has world ramifications, even if many across the world, in today’s generation, are unaware of this history. India is also answerable to the future generations of the world when they wake up to lay a claim on a legacy that is their roots too.
A Way Out, With a Way In
Out of the many kings in the entire Surya Vamsa lineage, the dynasty to which Rama belonged, if the ancient world had chosen to venerate Rama, it shows that Rama had something very special, something due to which they had held Rama near and dear. We find that to be the 16 noble qualities of which Rama was an epitome.
For the world, then, Ayodhya was also the cradle of nobility and all that Rama stood for. India, as the birthplace of such a haloed personage has a greater role to play as the preserver of this world history and also as a custodian of the 16 values that Rama exhibited. In all of world literature and history, Rama is the unique person to have exhibited all 16 qualities that a human is capable of. Many of these values are fast disappearing in the modern world of today, making the need to highlight this role model a dire need for today. These 16 qualities and what they mean are discussed in the book in detail.
While Rama and Ayodhya share an inseparable link going back by more than 7 Millennia, the Babar-Ayodhya link is just 500 odd years old. While the temple at Ram’s birthplace was built by His descendants few thousand years ago to commemorate His nobility
and divinity, as evidenced by the
archaeological finds of atleast 2000 years’ antiquity, the temple at Ram’s birthplace was demolished and the mosque named after Babar as Babri Masjid was built there only by Mir Baki, Babar’s general, to gain favour with his king, Babar.
While the temple for Rama was built for His time immemorial qualities, the mosque was built there by Mir Baki for currying temporary gains. India will have to elevate itself to look beyond faiths to secure the faith of the world that it will preserve the heritage of the world and reminiscences of a
personage who has influenced the growth of many world citizens—some biologically and some morally.
Need for a Monument
If Lincoln can have a memorial in Washington, to symbolise abolition of slavery, if Buddha can have monuments dedicated to Him at Lumbini, his
birthplace and at Bodh Gaya where He attained enlightenment, for world Buddhists as well as others to visit, pay respects and pray to their leader, it is but natural for India to have a
monument for Rama and His values at His birthplace for His descendants,
followers and others world over, to visit, pay respects and pray.
That, some of those who come to pray there, will be people of the Hindu faith is purely incidental. They are world citizens too and are entitled to it as progeny of King Rama, since in Indian ethos, a king is also seen as the father of his subjects, an attitude which Rama had very openly adopted.
A Heritage Site: Towards securing this heritage for the future world progeny, India will not be wronging if it sets up a monument at the birthplace of Rama to preserve his global identity, his
historicity, his memory and the values he stood for. Each world citizen has a right to this world legacy irrespective of his/her faith.
A Heritage City: With the placing of Rama’s birth, historically at 10th January, 5114 BCE, we have an
antiquity going back to 7130 years. This places the city of Ayodhya to be over 7200 years and more. Probably making it one of the oldest, continuously lived cities, anywhere in the world, with the site of Ram Janmabhoomi, being the epicenter of this 7 millennia old city. It is not just a heritage site but a heritage city of the world at large too.
A Heritage Temple: A temple at Rama’s birthplace, as a living museum, should bring out the 16 qualities that Rama stood for—the 16 qualities for which He was venerated as Purusha Uttama—Purushottama, the highest level of perfection that a human can attain, physically and through action.
Rama had reached such heights of perfection, for which he was held in such high esteem, not just for His
lifetime nor in His kingdom of Kosala alone, of which Ayodhya was the
capital. But as we can see here, He has been held at such high esteem, continuously for the last 7100
years, across continents, across
civilisations, across peoples, across generations. It is these 16 qualities that need to be listed, showcased, venerated and followed—as many qualities possible, by as many people possible, in as many lands possible.
(The writers are Founders of Bharath Gyan)
