Proof of Ayodhya's Pre-Islamic Rama Temple

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Stone writ could hold key to Ayodhya

 

 

12TH CENTURY INSCRIPTION HAS VERSES ON RAM AND REFERS TO 'UNIQUE

TEMPLE'

AMBIKANAND SAHAY & VINAY PANDEY

 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

 

NEW DELHI/PATNA: A 12th-century stone inscription recovered from the

debris of the disputed structure at Ayodhya could hold the key to the

resolution of the temple-mosque imbroglio.

Experts believe the 20-line inscription comprising 30 verses in

Sanskrit said to have been embedded in the lower portion of a wall of

the structure that was demolished on December 6, 1992 could provide

conclusive proof of the existence of a Ram temple at the site in the

12th century and even earlier.

 

Although little has been heard of the inscription, believers in

its "magical" power to resolve the dispute include hardcore Sangh

Parivar elements as well as religious leaders among them Puri

Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati who have been working for

a solution to the problem outside the VHP umbrella.

 

A leading proponent of the "inscription as key" theory has been

Acharya Kishore Kunal, who took voluntary retirement from the IPS

recently and is now vice-chancellor of the Kameshwar Singh Sanskrit

University, Darbhanga. In his younger days as an IPS officer working

in the Union home ministry, he acted as the Centre's negotiator for

the Ayodhya dispute.

 

Acharya Kunal, who was behind the renovation of the Hanuman temple at

Patna, has been arguing that the authenticity of the inscription

could be verified by an independent organisation like UNESCO. Once

that is done, he says, it would be easier to persuade the Muslim

leaders for a solution.

 

According to an article published in the journal, Itihas Darpan, in

1996, the inscription is written in the Nagari script which was in

vogue in the 12th century. The inscription (verse 5) pays obeisance

to the "janmabhumi of that incarnation of Vishnu which possesses the

highest and most desirable glory in this world and whose splendour

was constantly enhanced by performing thousands of brave deeds".

There could be little doubt about this incarnation being Ram.

 

The inscription (verse 21) refers to a temple of Vishnuhari built by

King Nayachandra. It says that stone slabs, chiselled out of solid

boulders brought from the mountain peaks, were arranged to form "a

unique temple the like of which had not been constructed by any other

previous king". It adds that the temple was crowned with a golden

kalasa (copula) lending great beauty to it.

 

The inscription refers twice to the Gahadavala king, Govindachandra,

who reigned in this part of the country from 1114 to 1154 AD.

Nayachandra appears to have been a vassal of the Gahadavala king.

 

The 1.10m x 0.56m buff sandstone, found broken into two pieces from

the debris of the demolished structure, was inspected by a team of

experts from the Archaeological Survey of India in March 2000 under

instructions from the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court. It

has since been kept at the Ram Katha Kunj under the seal of the high

court. Ram Katha Kunj, which was the office of the VHP in the

Janmabhumi complex, prior to the demolition, is now part of the land

acquired by the Central government on January 7, 1993.

(With inputs from V N Arora in Faizabad)

 

Link

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=919876434

 

Pic of the holy stone is here

 

http://203.199.93.7/today/ram.htm