During the time of Buddha and Mahavir, this Ayodhya was called Saket Nagar.
Today (Tuesday), Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hoist the religious flag on the peak of the temple built in Ayodhya on the birthplace of Shri Ram. With this, the message of completion of Ram temple in Ayodhya will be given to the whole world.The ancient name of Ayodhya, which was the capital of Kausal, is Saket, which many traditions recognize as a city. That is, many literary-religious traditions have been calling Ayodhya located within Kosala as Saket.Let us know how many names Ayodhya has and what is the story of their meeting?
Kosala district had its own special prestige in the Vedic-later Vedic period. In the Ramayana era, Kosala was an ideal state, whose capital was Ayodhya. During the time of Buddha and Mahavir, this Ayodhya was called Saket Nagar. This region was redefined during the era of Gupta, Kushan etc. dynasties.
In the Middle Ages, this Ayodhya became the administrative identity of Faizabad region. In this way, all of them together added layers of names at different levels for the same land area. Somewhere the name of the state became prominent, somewhere the name of the city, somewhere the religious-poetic surname was at the top.
Saket name meaning
Ayodhya is not only a center of geography but also a major center of faith. Ram Janmabhoomi, Saryu banks, Ayodhya Dham, the idea of Ramrajya all added an invisible sanctity to the word Ayodhya. Ayodhya was considered a symbol of unconquered, invincible and religious kingdom. At the same time, Saket is actually a symbolic name of Moksha, Vaikuntha and Paramdham. Similarly, Kosala is actually the broad geopolitical scope of Rama’s kingdom. In this way, when the same earth is seen from different angles, the difference in names becomes apparent, but ultimately everything merges into one stream.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hoist the religious flag today.
New discussion of names due to inauguration of Dharmadhvaja
In recent times, the inauguration of the religious flag, construction of Ram temple, increasing movement of devotees and media coverage have made Ayodhya the center of the whole world. As this city is gaining recognition on the global stage, curiosity about its historical roots, ancient names and cultural heritage has also increased. People are asking whether Saket and Ayodhya are different cities or the same? Kosala was a kingdom, what should be considered its boundary today? Which form is correct Ayuddha or Ayodhya? At the core of all these questions, the same thing emerges again and again, the city which we call Ayodhya today, has been alive in our literature, Puranas, scriptures and folklore for centuries under different names, in different pronunciations and in different cultural contexts.
Shri Ram’s city Ayodhya has lit up for the hoisting of the religious flag.
Many names, same origin Ayodhya
In short, Kosala was a vast district/state whose capital was Ayodhya. Ayodhya is the birthplace of Ram, the capital of Kosala, a symbol of religion, dignity and an ideal state. At the same time, Saket is a cultural-religious name of Ayodhya itself, which is especially visible in Buddhist-Jain tradition and Hindi-Sanskrit poetry. Names like Ayuddha / Ayodhya / Ayoddha are various forms of folk language and pronunciation, which are derived from the standard Ayodhya.
Incidents like flag inauguration have again brought these names into the center of discussion. One positive thing that has happened from this is that instead of being limited to mere mythological sentiments, people are trying to understand the layers of Ayodhya from the point of view of history, language and culture. Ultimately, whether you call it the capital of Kosala, Saket, Ayodhya or Ayuddhasar in the folk language i.e. Awadhi, it is the same. This is the land where the Indian mind has woven the dream of an ideal state, Maryada Purushottam and Dharmarajya. The name may change, but the light of that dream still continues to illuminate the identity of Ayodhya.
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