Ayodhya Verdict

What is the Ayodhya Dispute?

Lord Ram, one of the most revered gods in Hinduism, was born in Ayodhya and later ruled over his kingdom from here.

A temple is said to be built in the early medieval ages to commemorate his birth place (Janmabhoomi)

1528 – A mosque was built, purportedly at the same site by destroying the Janmabhoomi temple, by Mir Baqi – a general of Babur The political, historical and socio-religious debate over the history of the site and whether a previous temple was demolished or modified to create the mosque, is known as the Ayodhya dispute.

Beginning of the Dispute

For centuries, Muslims prayed inside the mosque while Hindus continued worshipping the Janmabhoomi, just outside on a chabutra (raised platform)

1853 – Local Rioting and clashes for control over Mosque

1885 – Mahant Raghuvar Das pleaded in Faizabad court to build a temple over Ram Chabutra (a platform) near the masjid . The request was denied.

Historical decisions

The Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment in the Ayodhya land dispute case that will have far-reaching effects. The five-judge Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi read out a uninanimous judgment and ruled in favour of the Ram Janmabhoomi and said there will be Ram Mandir at the disputed site and Muslims will be given an alternate 5 acre land for their mosque.

The Supreme Court heard the long-pending Ayodhya land dispute for a period of 40 days at a stretch and pronounced the historic verdict on Saturday as the nation waited with bated breath.

Here are the top 10 key takeaways from the landmark judgment in the Ayodhya case:

Supreme Court has granted the entire 2.77 acre of disputed land in Ayodhya to deity Ram Lalla.

Supreme Court has directed the Centre and Uttar Pradesh government to allot an alternative 5 acre land to the Muslims at a prominent place to build a mosque.

The court has asked Centre to consider granting some kind of representation to Nirmohi Akhara in setting up of trust. Nirmohi Akhara was the third party in the Ayodhya dispute.

The Supreme Court dismissed the plea of Nirmohi Akhara, which was seeking control of the entire disputed land, saying they are the custodian of the land.

Supreme Court has directed the Union government to set up a trust in 3 months for the construction of the Ram mandir at the disputed site where Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992.

The Supreme Court said the underlying structure below the disputed site at Ayodhya was not an Islamic structure, but the ASI has not established whether a temple was demolished to build a mosque.

The court also said that the Hindus consider the disputed site as the birthplace of Lord Ram while the Muslims also say the same about the Babri Masjid site.

The court also said that the faith of the Hindus that Lord Ram was born at the disputed site where the Babri Masjid once stood cannot be disputed.

The Supreme Court also said that the 1992 demolition of the 16th century Babri Masjid mosque was a violation of law.

While reading out its judgment, the Supreme Court said that the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board has failed to establish its case in Ayodhya dispute case and Hindus have established their case that they were in possession of outer courtyard of the disputed site.