This article is about the birthplace of Rama according to Hindu beliefs. For the debate on whether a temple existed at Babri Masjid site or not, see Ayodhya dispute.
Ram Janmabhoomi (lit.'Birthplace of Rama') is the site that, according to Hindu religious beliefs, is the birthplace of Rama, the seventh avatar of the Hindu deityVishnu. The Ramayana states that the location of Rama's birthplace is on the banks of the Sarayu river in a city called "Ayodhya". Modern-day Ayodhya is in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is contested whether the Ayodhya mentioned in the Ramayana is the same as the modern city.[2][3]
Some Hindus claim that the exact site of Rama's birthplace is within the grounds where the Babri Masjid once stood in the present-day Ayodhya,[4] with this belief extending back to at least 1822.[3] It has been suggested that a temple to Rama formerly existed at the same site as the Babri Masjid until it was replaced by the mosque, an idea supported by a court-ordered report of the Archaeological Survey of India following archaeological excavations around the ruins of the mosque, though the existence of this temple and the conclusions of the report are disputed.[5][6]
Idols of Rama and Sita were placed in the mosque in 1949 and devotees began to gather from the next day.[7][8] In 1992, the demolition of the Babri Masjid by Hindu nationalists triggered widespread Hindu-Muslim violence. The legal dispute over the property reached the Indian Supreme Court,[9][10] which ruled in November 2019 that the property be handed to a trust to construct a Hindu temple.[11]