Ayodhya is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Ayodhya district and the Ayodhya division of Uttar Pradesh, India. It shares a municipal corporation with its neighbouring twin city of Faizabad.
Ayodhya, also known as Saket, is an ancient city of India, is the birthplace of Bhagwan Shri Ram and setting of the great epic Ramayana. Ayodhya used to be the capital of the ancient Kosala Kingdom. It has an average elevation of 93 meters. Owing to the belief as the birthplace of Bhagwan Shri Ram, Ayodhya has been regarded as first one of the seven most important pilgrimage sites for Hindus.
The early Buddhist and Jain canonical texts mention that the religious leaders Gautama Buddha and Mahavira visited and lived in the city. The Jain texts also describe it as the birthplace of five tirthankaras namely, Rishabhanatha, Ajitanatha, Abhinandananatha, Sumatinath and Anantnath, and associate it with the legendary Bharata Chakravarti. From the Gupta period onwards, several sources mention Ayodhya and Saketa as the name of the same city.