The return of Rama: A 500yearold struggle that restored the prince of Ayodhya

Awadh was aghast. The city collapsed like a lamp about to lose its flame. Men, women and children followed him as though Ayodhya itself was walking away. They did not see a prince going to the forest, it was like something being forcefully torn away with the strings of hope that he might stay hanging loose. The moment he stepped away, the capital of the Kosala kingdom felt emptied of life. This is how Maharishi Valmiki portrays Ram’s departure for his 14-year vanvas in Treta Yuga.

The grief that filled Ayodhya in Valmiki’s verses did not stop at the edge of the forest. It travelled through centuries. It lived through kingdoms, invasions and courtrooms. It became devotion and politics. It became movements and marches. The 500-year-long Ram Janmabhoomi struggle was never just about land. It was about bringing Ram back. This time in Kaliyuga.

Generations came and went, but the question survived: When will Ram Lalla return?

He did return. On January 22, 2024, when the consecration ceremony of the deity was held. What was once a memory in scriptures and prayers finally took form in stone and light. The temple that had lived in longing now stands as faith fulfilled, and a civilisation reclaimed what it never stopped believing was its own.

November 25, 2025, marked the final milestone with the completion of the temple and a “Dhwajarohan” event, attended by PM Narendra Modi, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Addressing a gathering after the flag hoisting event on November 25, the Prime Minister stated that today the city of Ayodhya is witnessing yet another pinnacle of Indias cultural consciousness.

This Dharma Dhwaja is not merely a flag, but the flag of the renaissance of Indian civilisation, he said, explaining that its saffron colour, the glory of the Solar dynasty inscribed upon it, the sacred Om depicted, and the engraved Kovidar tree symbolise the greatness of Ram Rajya.

The story that had begun 500 years ago with the desecration under Mughal invader Babur slowly entered courtrooms, legal arguments and the political landscape. Each petition was an echo of a civilisational longing. Every verdict and every stay order became footsteps in a centuries-long journey.

Ayodhya did not forget. Neither did the people who came on foot from distant villages, nor the saints who guarded the belief like a flame, waiting for the Ram Lallas temple to rise again.

The struggle took different shapes over the centuries. Mahant Raghubir Das and others filed suits not for power or land, but for the right to worship. The movement was still quiet then, but the silence was deceptive. The devotion was gathering strength!

The Origin Of The Dispute

The story did not begin with courts or politics. It began in the sixteenth century when the temple at Ram Janmabhoomi was torn down, and a mosque was constructed under Babur’s general, Mir Baqi.

The temple was demolished, but the faith was not. Hindus continued to worship at the site. The belief that this was Ram’s birthplace never broke. It lived through devotion, pilgrimage and collective memory.

Muslim Chronicles on Ayodhya

Several works in Arabic, Persian, and Urdu discussed the demolition of the Ramjanmabhumi temple and its replacement by Babri Masjid.

In the book The Ayodhya Temple-Mosque Dispute: Focus on Muslim Sources by Harsh Narain, theres a mention of Al-Hind-u fi al- ‘Ahd al-Islami (India in the Islamic Era) by Maulana Hakim Sayyid Abd al-Hayy, which was translated into Urdu by Maulana Shams Tabriz Khan, under the title Hindustan Islami Ahd mein.

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