Experience the best of Ayodhya

Ayodhya stands on the Sarayu River in Uttar Pradesh, about 130 kilometres east of Lucknow, an ancient city of the Ramayana where Rama is said to have been born and to have ruled. It is counted among the seven sacred cities of Hinduism, and a large temple dedicated to Rama stands at the site revered as his birthplace.

Steps called ghats line the Sarayu, and the Hanuman Garhi, a fort-like temple on a hill reached by steep steps, and Kanak Bhawan, a richly decorated palace-temple, are among the many shrines. Ayodhya is sacred to Jains, who hold that five Tirthankaras were born here, and Buddhist tradition also links the city to the Buddha. The neighbouring town of Faizabad was an early capital of the Nawabs of Awadh and has the tomb of Bahu Begum.

Temple-town food is vegetarian, with milk sweets such as pedas, kachori and jalebi for breakfast, and the Awadhi cooking of nearby Lucknow shapes many menus. At Diwali the ghats are lit with huge numbers of oil lamps, and winter days are mild and clear for walking the ghats.