The Saryu makes an oxbow bend at Ayodhya. The original city was nestled within that bend. According to some texts, the original Ayodhya goes back to 600 BCE. So it is logical to believe that there would have been use of earth and stone, not brick. I believe in the permanence of a place, the continuity with which it has existed for eons. The place remains, we just keep building and rebuilding over it. Many places exist in our psyche. For example, Sita ki Rasoi (the kitchen of Sita). Our logical mind might argue about its impossibility, but then why is only that place called so? The Saryu has changed course, but still the Ram ki Paidi (a series of ghats along a stretch of water that is now pumped from the Saryu through motor pumps) remains revered. Belief gives it a strong sense of sacred space. There is so much mythology that, to a believing mind, it is difficult to say where mythology ends and history begins. Religiosity becomes more animated with mythology.
What about the more recent city?
The city's most recent form would have been constructed in 15th-17th century when the influence of Buddhism waned. Thus, the profuse use of lakhauri bricks (flat, thin, red burnt clay bricks). The grain of the city is dense with a strong vernacular imprint. It has a typical typology. Any old haveli will have a big courtyard with a mandir at its centre. The living rooms were around the courtyard. Same in Kashi, but with smaller mandirs.
Denne historien er fra January 14, 2024-utgaven av THE WEEK India.
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Denne historien er fra January 14, 2024-utgaven av THE WEEK India.
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