Ayodhya

History

Ancient Indian Sanskrit-language epics, such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata mention a legendary city called Ayodhya, which was the capital of the legendary Ikshvaku kings of Kosala, including Rama. Neither these texts, nor the earlier Sanskrit texts such as the Vedas, mention a city called Saketa. Non-religious, non-legendary ancient Sanskrit texts, such as Panini's Ashtadhyayi and Patanjali's commentary on it, do mention Saketa. The later Buddhist text Mahavastu describes Saketa as the seat of the Ikshvaku king Sujata, whose descendants established the Shakya capital Kapilavastu. The earliest of the Buddhist Pali-language texts and the Jain Prakrit-language texts mention a city called Saketa (Sageya or Saeya in Prakrit) as an important city of the Kosala mahajanapada. Topographical indications in both Buddhist and Jain texts suggest that Saketa is the same as the present-day Ayodhya. For example, according to the Samyutta Nikaya and the Vinaya Pitaka, Saketa was located at a distance of six yojanas from Shravasti. The Vinaya Pitaka mentions that a big river was located between the two cities, and the Sutta Nipata mentions Saketa as the first halting place on the southward road from Shravasti to Pratishthana. Fourth century onwards, multiple texts, including Kalidasa's Raghuvamsha, mention Ayodhya as another name for Saketa. The later Jain canonical text Jambudvipa-Pannati describes a city called Viniya (or Vinita) as the birthplace of Rishabhanatha, and associates this city with Bharata Chakravartin; the Kalpa-Sutra describes Ikkhagabhumi as the birthplace of Rishabhanatha. The index on the Jain text Paumachariya clarifies that Aojjha (Aodhya), Kosala-puri ("Kosala city"), Viniya, and Saeya (Saketa) are synonyms. The post-Canonical Jain texts also mention…

Geography

Ayodhya has a humid subtropical climate, typical of central India. Summers are long, dry and hot, lasting from late March to mid-June, with average daily temperatures near . They are followed by the monsoon season which lasts till October, with annual precipitation of approximately and average temperatures around . Winter starts in early November and lasts till the end of January, followed by a short spring in February and early March. Average temperatures are mild, near , but nights can be colder.

Most-observed species

• Red-wattled Lapwing

  Vanellus indicus (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  719
• Large-billed Crow

  Corvus macrorhynchos Wagler, 1827 · Aves
  714
• Spotted Dove

  Spilopelia chinensis (Scopoli, 1786) · Aves
  653
• White-throated Kingfisher

  Halcyon smyrnensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  633
• Black Drongo

  Dicrurus macrocercus Vieillot, 1817 · Aves
  626
• Indian Pond-Heron

  Ardeola grayii (Sykes, 1832) · Aves
  597
• Little Cormorant

  Microcarbo niger (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  570
• Black Kite

  Milvus migrans (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  554