Thiru Ayodhya is said to be the Janmha Bhoomi (Birth place) of Sri Ram and is situated 6 Kms from Faizabad.Ayodhya is well connected with other places by road, as it is located on the main highway.Transportation by means of Tempos, Cycle-rickshaws and Buses are available at frequent intervels.
Specials:
In this sthalam only, Lord Narayan took the Avathaar as Rama, as an ordinary king, who led the life as an ordinary human. And at the end of the Avatar, alongwith other 3 brothers, he got mixed (i.e.) got mukthi in Sarayu river.
This Divyadesam is said to be one among the 7 Mukthi Kshetrams. These 7 mukthi sthalam represents different part of the body of Sriman Narayanan.
Moolavar:
The Moolavar of Ayodhya is Sri Ramar. He is also called with the names "Chakravarthy Thirumagan", facing his thirumugham towards North direction.
Prathyaksham for Bharadhan, all Devars and Maharishis.
Thaayar:
The Thaayar of this divyadesam is Seetha Devi.
Vimaanam:
Pushkala Vimaanam.
Sthalapuranam:
The Great epic, Ramayana is said to start and ended in this place. The avathaar of Sri Ramar explains how an ordinary human should be and it explains the Sathya path which leads him to the final mukthi.
This Divyadesam is said to be one among the 7 Mukthi Kshetrams. These 7 mukthi sthalam represents different part of the body of Sriman Narayanan.
Avanthi is represented as the divine feet, (Thiruvadi of the perumal),
Kachipuram, represents the waist,
Thirudwaraka represents the Nabhi (the lower stomach),
Maya represents the Thiru maarbhu (the chest)
Madhura represents the neck,
Kasi represents the nose and finally,
Ayodhya Kshetram represents the Head of the perumal.
Thats the reason it is said to be one of the most important among the 7 Mukthi kshetram.
Sri Ramar by killing Ravanan explains to the world that all the life led and its destiny ends only through ones character. Sri Ramar led his life by thinking of only one life parter, Seetha Devi, his wife alongwith his bow. He followed his previous generationed member and followed their words. Thus, the Rama avathaar explains about one word, one bow and one wife and all the characters are found inside Sri Ramar. When Lord Narayan took the human avathaar as Sri Ramar, Sridevi became his wife as Seetha Devi, the Aadhiseshan as his brother, Lakshmanan and perumal's sangu and chakkaram took their birth as "Bharadhan and Sathrukkanan. Hanuman born as the hamsam of Sivaperumaan.
This Avathaar of Sriman Narayanan as "Sri Ramar", shows the best and excellent characters of all human and explains how all must be. By giving the entire Kingdom of Ayodhi to Bharathar as asked by Kaikeyi and left out from Ayodhi to a forest. This character shows the obedience for Kaikeyi, inspite of she doing harm by making him to go to the forest.
By helping Sukreevan and Vibheeshanan, Sri Ramar explains about the great friendship character and finally, the mercy and love showed towards Sri Hanuman is the ultimate character of Sri Ramar.
This Ayodhya is siad to be the birth place of Sri Ramar and he got Mukthi (Paramapadham) only from this Ayodhya and it is said to be the final place where the Rama avathaar ended.
Brahmadevan did a strong tapas towards Sriman Narayanan. The perumal gave his prathyaksham for Brahma and both of them hugged together. On seeing the great bhakti of Brahmadevan, Sriman Narayanan is so emotionally attracted towards him and His eyes started to swell tears. But Brahma devan doesnt want the tears to let down it into the earth and he collected all of his tears in the Kamandalam (a small vessel which all the Rishis have). Using his power, Brahma devan created a pushkarani and all the drops of tears was mixed into the pushkarani. And that is called the Maanasasaras in the Himalayas. Since, the theertham is created along with the tears drops of perumal and the Manasika power (created from his heart fulfilled) of Brahma devar, this theertham is so called as "Maanasasaras".
When Itsuraku was ruling Ayodhya he said his plea that if a river flows in his empire he would feel happy to Vasishta Maharishi. Vasishta Maharishi went towards Brahma devan in Sathya loka and along with the help of him, he made to flow the Maanasasaras to flow near his city . Since, Maansasaras was made to flow in Ayodhi, it is called as "Sarayu Nadhi". Since, this river flowed as the step taken by Vasistar, this theertham is also called as "Vasistai". This river is said to be the body of a women and said that it talked to Sri Ramar and Dasarathar because of this, the river is also called as "Rama Gangai".
It is said that earlier Ayodhya had 2700 temple of Sri Ramar near the South shore of Sarayu Nadhi.
Swayavambhuvamanu, who was the first son of Brahma devan, met in Sathya lokam and asked him which is the place he need to start the task of creation. Brahma along with his son, went towards Sriman Narayanan in Sri Vaikuntam. Through Brahma devan, Sriman Narayanan hands over the middle portion of Sri Vaikuntam which is said to be the Ayodhi Raajyam. This explains that all the wealth of Grand father belongs to Grand son (ie) since Brahma devan emerged from the Naabhi of Sri Mahavishnu he is considered to be his son and Swayavambhuvamanu is considered as the grandson of Mahavishnu. This is the reason why alwar say:"Ambuyothon Ayodhi Mannarkku Alitha kovil".
Interesting Places :
On the shore of Sarayu river, a small temple for Aanjaneya is found which is called as "Hanuman Thekri", where he is found in Vishwaroopa kolam. But only his head is found outwards.
Ammaaji Mandir, where sannadhis for Sri Ranganathar and Sri Ramar are found. This is the place where the old temple was found where all the alwars sung on the perumal.
Theerthams of Ayodhya
There are number of theerthams is said to be flow in and near Ayodhya. Below are listed some of the Pushkaranis in and around Ayodhya:-
Paramapadha Pushkarani
Sarayu river.
Nageswara Theertham:
Sri Ramar had two sons namely Lavan and Kusa. One day, Kusa was having a bath in Sarayu river who was very much attracted by his beauty by Kumudavathi, a princess of Naga Lokam. she wanted to marry him and because of this, she caught hold of Kusa's hands but she could not stop him. After reaching the palace, kusa found his ornaments (bangle) was missing. He thought it might have fallen in Sarayu river and to taken out the bangle from the river he dried up the river using his astram. The Naga princes got frightened of the astram and returned the bangle and falled to the feet of Kusa. Kusa explained the bangle was so important since it was given by Vasistar to Sri Ramar, his father. And finally, Kusa let the river to flow once again. Because of this, the theertham is called as "Nageswara theertham".
Lots of theertham like Vaidaheeya theertham, Soorya theertham, Ratha theertham etc are also found. It is believed that Indra took bath in Indra theertham to get out of the sin due to Vrithirasura Vadham (Killing of Vrithisuran).
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Personal Experience in this Divyadesam:
28th March, 2011:
Morning got up around 7am and got ready to go to the temples in Ayodhya. We had our breakfast in the same hotel and left around 9am. There were monkeys all around Ayodhya. This showed us that Ayodhya has still the vanara senyam of Sri Hanuman.
Went to Sita Rasoi where they say food is served for 1,000 people and served there. Guides misguide us there by saying money is collected for the construction of Ram mandir. But the fact is once they get the amount from us, they share it among themselves. We have to be aware of this. If you want to donate, the amount is collected in Ram mandir. Donate it in the Hundi!
Then we went to Ram mandir. We have to walk for about 2kms to reach the place. Due to security reasons, vehicles are not allowed. We are not allowed to carry any electronic items like mobile, cameras, etc. It took almost 40mts to have darshan of Lord Rama.
Went to Kanak bhavan. Legends have it that Rani Kaikey had built it for Sita. Subsequentely it has been restored time and again by various kings. The Present temple was built by Rani Krishnabhanu Kunwari of Orccha in 1891. This has images of Sri Rama and Sita wearing gold crowns. It is also known as Sone-ke-Ghar.
We then went to Hanuman Gadi temple. Had darshan of Lord Hanuman. Legend has it that Hanuman lived here in a cave and guarded the Janambhoomi or Ramkot. The main temple contains the statue of Maa Anjani, with Bal Hanuman seated on her lap. The faithful believe that all their wishes are granted with a visit to this holy shrine.
Due to hectic journey and change of climate from 3 deg to 37deg, we all were exhausted. Came back to hotel had our lunch and had rest for almost 3 hrs.
Around 4pm got ready to go to Ammaji temple or Divyadesam Mandir. This Mandir is dedicated to Sri Rama and is like any other Divyadesam in Tamilnadu. The temple structure,the Archamoorthys and the mode of worship are all as per Bhagavad Ramanuja Sampradaya Srivaishnava tradition.
in brief, the history of this temple as given in a temple pamphlet. This temple is, to be precise, 97 years old and located close to the banks of the river Sarayu. This temple came into existence by the efforts of a noble soul by name Yogi Sri Parthasarathy Ayyangar. This temple exists at the very site where a temple for Sri Ranganatha was there in the past. The main shrine is for Sri Rama with Seetha and Lakshmana on both sides. There are separate shrines for Sri Ranganatha, Hanuman and Azhvar.
There is an interesting story about the beginnings of this temple. On one night, when Yogi Smt. Singaramma, the wife of Yogi Sri Parathasarathy, was fast asleep, in her dream she found the Uthsava Vigrahas of Sri Rama and Seetha buried in a dilapidated temple in the village known as Thiruppullani(Dharbasayanam) in Ramanathapuram District of Tamilnadu.. The couple went there looking for it. Her dream turned out to be true as they found the dilapidated temple as well as the Sri moorthys. With the assistance of their friends and relatives, they met the King of Ramanathapuram and took his permission for taking these Vigrahas with them. After that, they have decided to shift to Ayodhya and build a temple for Sri Rama and install the Vigrahas in that temple. With the passing away of Yogi Sri Parthasarathy within a few years after moving into Ayodhya, his wife took up the responsibility of completing the temple and organizing Nithya Aradhanams, Uthsavams etc. Since she played a very significant role in bringing up this temple, the shrine itself is popularly known as AMMAJI MANDIR. There is also a stone inscription in the temple proclaiming the temple as SETHU RAMA MANDIR identifying its origins. Sri Ramanavami Uthsavam is being celebrated every year for 5 days. A team of Archakas, Paricharakas, Adhyapaka and Vedaparayana goshti from Triplicane goes to Ayodhya to perform this 5 day Uthsavam. The Moola and Uthsava moorthys are simply beautiful and a treat to watch them unendingly.
We were shown 108 saligramams which were worshipped in the temple. We then told Acharya that we would come the next day and perform Vedaparayanam. He agreed and said he would prepare pongal.
We chanted Vishnu Sahasranamam and then went to Sarayu river to see the Aarti. It was very pleasant on the shore of Sarayu river. After the Aarti, we went to Valmiki mahal. The whole mahal has Ramayan scripted on marble on the walls. Nearby we visited Char dham temple. Went to Dasaratha mahal. In the sannidhi, Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata, Shatruguna are seen with their consorts.
Came back to hotel after dinner.
29th March, 2011:
Got up around 7am. Gents and kids left to Sarayu river and took bath there and reached Ammaji Temple. Others left to Ammaji Temple around 8am. We had Goshti there for almost 2.5hrs.
We left to Nandigram which was 1.5hour drive from Ayodhya.
As you all know, this place has been referred to in the epic, Srimad Ramayana, where Bharatha was doing penance, waiting for Rama, Seetha and Lakshmana to return from their Vanavasa. According to the epic, Rama sent Hanuman in advance to notify his arrival in order to prevent Bharatha from performing Praayopavesa. This place is on the outskirts of Ayodhya. There is a beautiful shrine for Bharatha and Hanuman both embracing each other. The marble stone idol of both Bharatha and Hanuman in embracing pose. Nearby there is Bharath Kund.
We all had a hot tea and left to Lucknow which was another 1.5hours drive.
As we reached Lucknow, the driver stopped us for shopping Lucknow chicken dresses which are famous. After some shopping we left to check into some hotel.
Finally we landed into UP tourism hotel. They charged us too much for a small old room. We all were not happy but we were not in a position to go and find another hotel at that time. We all had dinner in a nearby vegetarian restaurant and went to bed as we had to get up early and leave to Naimisharanyam early in the morning.
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