Ayodhya War and Peace

Ayodhya is the city founded by the Suryavamsa, Solar dynasty kings.

Rama was born and ruled from there 7100 years ago.

This Solar dynasty lineage spread not only to different parts of India but also to different parts of the world, spreading their nobility.

This work traces the history of Ayodhya and this lineage through the lands, through the times.

Ayodhya and the values that Rama stood for, have been an inspiration to all these people through all these times.

In the last 500 years, Ayodhya has been at the crossroads of history.

This book offers a Pan Theo solution not just to disentangle ourselves from the present imbroglio alone but more importantly to rejuvenate Ayodhya once again as an inspirational city for values to live by, in times to come.

The epic Ramayana is considered as one of the masterpieces of poetry in Samskrt language. It was composed by the poet Valmiki to eulogize Rama, the king of Ayodhya and showcase Rama’s righteous character. Right from the time of Rama’s life to this day, Rama, the king of Ayodhya, has also been revered by many, as an incarnation of God on earth and is one of the popular divinities of the land. The Ramayana epic therefore is also revered as a holy book.

Apart from faith, from a literary point of view, for over thousands of years, this work has been classified as an Itihasa, historical text of the land. In recent times, over the last couple of centuries however, this text got categorized as mythological.

As part of Bharath Gyan compilation, we have been compiling facts about India, her knowledge, global relations across times and across multiple disciplines of knowledge, from various sources and formats.

When put together and seen from a wholistic, logical and rational perspective, these facts indicate credibility of Rama having lived about 7000 years ago, around 5100 BCE, which we have brought out in our work titled "Historical Rama". Our further work, looking at Rama and the events of Ramayana from the land of Sri Lanka, where some of the major events of Ramayana took place, also corroborate the historicity of Rama as well as Ravana, the King of Lanka and his clan. We have compiled this in the book titled, "Ramayana In Lanka".

The facts from multiple disciplines and dimensions such as Archaeology, Marine Archaeology, Archaeo-Astronomy etc, confirm not only the historicity of Rama and the people around Him but they also confirm the Geography of the lands and the convergence of History with the Geography of the two lands across the seas, namely India and Sri Lanka.

Coming to Archaeology, most of the events of Ramayana unfolded at Ayodhya, the forests in Central India and at Lanka. Given this, the main sites that could be of archaeological interest in India, are the Nala Setu, the bridge built by Rama's team of the Vanara army and the city of Ayodhya and its surrounds. We have dealt with the Nala Setu in detail in our books Historical Rama and Ramayana in Lanka. As we started studying Ayodhya, we realized that it would warrant a separate, in depth attention, given the amount of recent history also attached to it.

We therefore present here, our compilation of data on Ayodhya through the times, in the shape of this book, "Ayodhya - War and Peace".

From these compilations, what comes to light is that, the ancient kingdom of Kosala, with Ayodhya as the capital, as described in literature and the present day city of Ayodhya, are one and the same. This makes the Ayodhya of today, one of the most ancient cities of the world, with a long historical record of an unbroken, continuity of civilization over 7000 years. Unfortunately this ancient, historical city of Ayodhya, in the last few centuries has been witness to a lot of turmoil.

Our attempt at studying Ayodhya from the findings of archaeology and other records, also started throwing more light on the genesis of the present problem.

Through this book, we shall look at the flow of time, people and thoughts from Ayodhya, through the Millennia. We will look at where all in the world, they had spread to and the remembrances they took with them in the form of names, legends, practices and beliefs. Some of them have kept up their connections with Ayodhya, in their own ways and means, for inspiration in their daily lives.

From all this, what comes out clear is that, Ayodhya, is a heritage city, not just for the present day citizens living in Ayodhya or in India, but is in fact a heritage city of many across the globe, going back in time, not just to a few centuries but in fact to a few millennia, seven Millennia to be precise.

If we draw up a list of cities in the world that have been inspirational to different countries, different kingdoms, different kings, different civilizations across many millennia, the city of Ayodhya, will surely find a prominent place at the head of the list.

Then, can this perspective and understanding pave the way, to help overcome the imbroglio that Ayodhya has been beset with, in the last couple of hundred years?

Can the true values as espoused by Rama, the noblest son of Ayodhya, be a guiding spirit in overcoming this impasse, so that Ayodhya can once again be a city of peace as it was named to be?

In today's world, where moral values and ethical living have taken a beating, can there emerge a solution to Ayodhya that can become a beacon to the society at large, to come out of its morass and look up to Ayodhya, to lead it in all spheres of peace, love, compassion, ethics, uprightness? All that the noble people of Ayodhya have stood for, for the last 7000 years and more! That would put Ayodhya once again in the world map, as truly an international, inspirational city, a status that it deserves for its glorious antiquity.

Today many study history just so that they can score enough marks to get by in their examinations. What is missed is the fact that History moulds the mind and shapes civilizations.

History has passed on this problem to our generation for resolution. Our acts of commissions and omissions today are what will make the history for tomorrow.

A wholesome understanding of history is required to solve this historic problem. India has its share of such problems left behind by history. While we are at the cross roads of one such issue, namely Ayodhya, instead of passing it on to the next generations, like a mutation in our gene, leaving behind a festering wound in our civilization, we can choose to steer it towards a resolution once and for all with fortitude. It will be the direction, we set for the youth, who represent the tomorrow and who will inherit this land and legacy from us.

Ayodhya - War and Peace, is an outcome of our compilations, contemplations and the picture that emerged as we went about studying the historicity of Rama.

This book is complemented by our other books, "Historical Rama" and "Ramayana in Lanka".

**Contents and Sample Pages**