An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v2.c28.557

v2.c28.557

**Ayodhyā** (26°48'; 82°14'), Dt Faizabad, situated on the right bank of the Sarayu. According to the *Rāmāyaṇa* of Vālmīki, the date of the original composition of which has been a matter of debate but which is generally belived to have been finalized in the early centuries of the Christian era, Ayodhyā was the capital of the Kosala kingdom, one of the kings of which was Rāma regarded by Hindus as an incarnation of Viṣṇu. The city also finds reference in Buddhist and Jain texts. It is believed to have been the birth-place of the first and fourth Jaina Tīrthaṅkars, and Buddha is also stated to have stayed here for some time. Thus, traditional and literary associations have cast a halo around the place. To check up archaeologically the antiquity of Ayodhyā and othe. sites associated with the *Rāmāyaṇa* story the ASI and the Indian Institute of Advanced Study under the direction of the present author have jointly embarked upon a project which is still (1978) under way. Earlier the Banaras Hindu Univ. had also laid a couple of trenches here.