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Uttar Pradesh Cabinet approves renaming of Faizabad as Ayodhya
Uttar Pradesh Cabinet approves the renaming of Faizabad as Ayodhya: Details, Background, Highlights
Uttar Pradesh Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Adityanath Yogi on 14th November 2018, has approved the renaming of Faizabad and Allahabad divisions as Ayodhya and Prayagraj respectively.
Now, the proposal will now go to Central before the city is officially renamed. Prayagraj division will comprise Prayagraj, Kaushambi, Fatehpur and Pratapgarh districts. Ayodhya division will include Ayodhya, Ambedkarnagar, Sultanpur, Amethi and Barabanki districts.
Background
The Government has justified the name changes across Uttar Pradesh, saying they are merely restoring older names and correcting historical distortions. Allahabad’s ancient name was ‘Prayag’ but was changed after 16th-century Mughal emperor Akbar built a fort near ‘Sangam’, the holy confluence of three rivers viz. Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati.
Akbar named the fort and its neighborhood ‘Ilahabad’. Later, Akbar’s grandson Shah Jahan renamed the entire city as ‘Allahabad’. But the area near the ‘Sangam’, the site of the Kumbh Mela, continues to be known as ‘Prayag’.
The reason paved for renaming Faizabad is that Ayodhya was the capital of ‘Ikshvaku dynasty’, to which the Hindu god Ram belonged, and that it is popularly known as his birthplace.
Ayodhya is has been the capital of many estates and dynasties in different time periods.
