About the Temple & Location :
Thiru Ayodhya is said to be the Janmha Bhoomi (Birth place) of Sri Ram and is situated at 6 Kms from Faizabad.
Ayodhya is well connected with other places by road, as it is located on the main highway.
Transportation by means of Tempos, Cycle-rickshaws and Buses are available at frequent intervals.
Specials:
1. In this sthalam only, Emperumaan took the Avatar as Rama, as an ordinary king, who led life as an ordinary human. And at the end of Avatar, along with other 3 brothers, he got mixed (i.e.) got mukthi in Sarayu river.
2. This Divyadesam is said to be one among the 7 Mukti Kshetras. These 7 mukthi sthalam represent different parts of the body of Sriman Narayanan.
Moolavar:
The Moolavar of Ayodhya is Sri Ramar. He is also called with the names “Chakravarthy Thirumagan”, facing his thirumugham towards the North direction. Pratyaksham for Bharathan, all Devars and Maharishis.
Thaayar:
The Thayar of this divyadesam is Seetha Piratiiyaar.
Vimanam:
Pushkala Vimanam.
Sthalapuranam
The Great epic, Ramayana is said to start and end in this sthalam. The avatar of Sri Ramar explains how an ordinary human should be and it explains the Sathya path which leads him to the final mukthi.
This Divyadesam is said to be one among the 7 Mukti Kshetras. These 7 mukthi sthalam represent different parts of the body of Sriman Narayanan. 1) Avanthi is represented as the divine feet, Thiruvadi of the perumal, 2) Kachipuram, represents the waist, 3) Thirudwaraka represents the Nabhi (the lower stomach), 4) Maya represents the Thiru maarbhu (the chest) 5) Madhura represents the neck, 6) Kasi represents the nose and finally, this 7) Ayodhya Kshetram represents the Head of the perumal. That's the reason it is said to be one of the most important among the 7 Mukthi kshetram.
Sri Ramar by killing Ravanan explains to the world that all life leads and its destiny ends only through one's character. Sri Ramar led his life by thinking of only one life partner, Seetha Piratti, his wife along with his bow (vil). He followed his previous generationed members and followed their words. Thus, the Rama avatar explains about one word, one bow and one wife and all the characters are found inside Sri Ramar. When Emperumaan took the human avatar, as Sri Ramar, Periya piratti came as his wife as Seetha piratti, the Adhiseshan as his brother, Lakshmanan and perumal’s sangu and chakram took their birth as “Bharadhan and Sathrukkanan. Hanuman was born as the hamsam of Sivaperuman.
This Avathaar of Sriman Narayanan as “Sri Ramar“, shows the best and excellent characters of all humans and explains how all must be. By giving the entire Raajyam (empire) of Ayodhi to Bharathar as asked by Kaikeyi he gave the entire Raajyam and left from Ayodhya to a forest. This character shows the obedience for Kaikeyi, in spite of her doing harm by making him go to the forest.
By helping Sugreeva and Vibheeshanan, Sri Ramar explains about the great friendship character and finally, the mercy and love shown towards Sri Hanuman is the ultimate character of Sri Ramar.
This Ayodhya sthalam is said to be the birth place of Sri Ramar and he got Mukthi (Paramapadham) only from this Ayodhya sthalams and it is said to be the final place where the Rama avatar ended.
Brahmadevan did a strong tapas towards Sriman Narayanan. The perumal gave his pratyaksham for Brahma and both of them hugged together. On seeing the great bhakti of Brahma Devan, Sriman Narayanan is so emotionally attracted towards him and his (perumal) eyes start to swell with tears. But Brahma devan doesn't want the tears to let down into the earth and he collected all of his tears in the Kamandalam (a small vessel which all the Rishis have). Using his power, Brahma devan created a pushkarani and all the drops of tears were mixed into the pushkarani. And that is called the Maanasasaras in the Himalayas. Since, the theertham is created along with the tears drops of perumal and the Manasika power (created from his heart fulfilled) of Brahma devar, this theertham is so called as “Maanasasaras”.
When Itsuraku was ruling Ayodhya he said his plea that if a river flows in his empire he would feel happy to Vasishta Maharishi. Vasishta Maharishi went towards Brahma devan in Sathya loka and along with the help of him, he made the Maanasasaras flow near his city . Since, Maansasaras was made to flow in Ayodhya, it is called as “Sarayu Nadhi”. Since, this river flowed as the step taken by Vasistar, this theertham is also called as “Vasistai”. This river is said to be the body of a woman and said that it talked to Sri Ramar and Dasarathar because of this, the river is also called as “Rama Gangai”.
It is said that earlier Ayodhya had 2700 temples of Sri Ramar near the South shore of Sarayu Nadhi.
Swayavambhuvamanu, who was the first son of Brahma devan, met in Sathya lokam and asked him which is the place he needed to start the task of creation. Brahma along with his son, went towards Sriman Narayanan in Sri Vaikuntam. Through Brahma devan, Sriman Narayanan hands over the middle portion of Sri Vaikuntam which is said to be the Ayodhi Raajyam. This explains that all the wealth of Grandfather belongs to Grand son (ie) since Brahma devan emerged from the Naabhi of Sri Mahavishnu he is considered to be his son and Swayavambhuvamanu is considered as the grandson of Mahavishnu. This is the reason why alwar say:
“Ambuyothon Ayodhi Mannarkku Alitha kovil”.
Interesting Places
On the shore of Sarayu river, a small temple for Aanjaneya is found which is called as “Hanuman Thekri”, where he is found in Vishwaroopa kolam. But only his head is found outwards.
Ammaaji Mandir, where sannadhis for Sri Ranganathar and Sri Ramar are found. This is the place where the old temple was found where all the alwars sung on the perumal.
The sthalam which is raised as the remembrance of Sri Ramar is being destroyed and found in a damaged stage. We should not think that his temple was demolished. He has his own temple in all of the hearts of his bhaktas who say the Rama Naamam as “Sri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram” purely in their heart and thus Ayodhya is found in all hearts of the bhaktas. So, bhaktas who say “Sri Ramajayam” are said to be the “Rama janma Bhoomi” and thus explains that there is lots and lots of Ayodhya is found in this entire world.
So let us say “Sri Ramajayam” and let his name spread throughout the world.
Theerthams of Ayodhya
There are a number of theerthams that are said to be flowing in and near Ayodhya. Below are listed some of the Pushkaranis in and around Ayodhya:-
1. Paramapadham Pushkarani
2. Sarayu river.
3. Nageswara Theertham:
Sri Ramar had two sons namely Lavan and Kusa. One day, Kusa was having a bath in Sarayu river who was very much attracted by his beauty by Kumudavathi, a princess of Naga Lokam. She wanted to marry him and because of this, she caught hold of Kusa’s hands but she could not stop him. After reaching the palace, Kusa found his ornaments (bangle) missing. He thought it might have fallen in Sarayu river and to take out the bangle from the river he dried up the river using his astram. The Naga princes got frightened of the astram and returned the bangle and falled to the feet of Kusa. Kusa explained the bangle was so important since it was given by Vasistar to Sri Ramar, his father. And finally, Kusa let the river flow once again. Because of this, the theertham is called “Nageswara theertham”.
Lots of theertham like Vaidaheeya theertham, Soorya theertham, Ratha theertham etc are also found. It is believed that Indra took bath in Indra theertham to get out of the Paavam (sin) due to Vrithirasura Vadham (Killing of Vrithisuran).
