International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET) Volume 9, Issue 12, December 2018, pp. 736-743, Article ID: IJCIET_09_12_078 Available online at http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJCIET?Volume=9&Issue=12 ISSN Print: 0976-6308 and ISSN Online: 0976-6316 © IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed AYODHYA: THE BACKBONE OF HINDU IDEOLOGY Ar. Madhavendra Pratap Singh Department of Architecture, Amity University, Lucknow Campus, India, Dr. Vandana Sehgal Faculty of Architecture, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University, Lucknow Campus, India, ABSTRACT Ayodhya is known as one of the ancient cities in India and the birthplace of Lord Ram. The city is considered to be a religious Centre for Hinduism and hence an attraction for millions of devotees across the world. The city can be called as a Vatican of India in terms of a religious centre where thousands of years old teaching and preaches are being practised on a daily basis not only by the Sadhus but by the locals living within the city. Situated on the bank of Saryu river, like all the early civilizations in India; the city has provided an ultimate source of water supply to the nearby settlements to flourish. According to the Hindu mythology in Ramayana, the city was founded by Manu (the first man in Veda). Lord Ram who was believed to be the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu (approx. 900000 years) was born in the city and became the most celebrated king of the Surya Dynasty and under his regime, the city became the capital of Hinduism [5]. With the rise of the Buddhism in the sixth and seventh century the city has lost its character of a holy city in Hinduism but later the city again became the spiritual centre when it was rediscovered by Vikramaditya. From then the city has retained its character as a birthplace of Lord Ram and have become the spiritual centre [5]. People from all over the world visit the city every year to show their devotion and perform parikrama of the temple complex which is believed to be the birthplace of Lord Rama. The city gained the character of a holy city wherein people use to perform Parikrama of the city in order to show their devotion towards the almighty. These parikramas are in various distances of 5 Kosi, 14 Kosi, 84 Kosi where 5, 14, 84 are the basic elements of human body as described in Vedas [6]. In 5 Kosi parikrama, 5 represent ‘Panchtavas’, the five elements from which the human body is made up of. In 14 Kosi parikrama, 14 represent ‘Bhuvans’ which are believed to be in a Human Body according to mythology. http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJCIET 736 [email protected] Ar. Madhavendra Pratap Singh and Dr. Vandana Sehgal In 84 Kosi parikrama, 84 represent the number of species in lakhs present on Earth as worded in Hindu Mythology. Hence, in other words it can be said that the parikrama when performed by the pilgrims, is the actual analysis of the human body where time is being given to every individual to self-analyse themselves as an individual. The geology and climatic conditions of this place help it to sustain at different times and hence considered as one of the ancient cities. Being situated on the river bank gives it ample amount of water for agriculture and basic needs. The fertile land provides the surplus amount of food for the survival of the mankind. During monsoons, good rainfall provides a suitable environment for the crops to grow and the composite climate helps in growth of variety of crops and vegetables. Keyword: Religious centre, 5 Kosi, 14 Kosi, 84 Kosi, Holy City. Cite this Article: Ar. Madhavendra Pratap Singh and Dr. Vandana Sehgal, Ayodhya: the Backbone of Hindu Ideology, International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology, 9(12), 2018, pp. 736–743 http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJCIET?Volume=9&Issue=12 1. INTRODUCTION The Ayodhya region is settled on a pile of alluvial soil brought by the Saryu River. This alluvial pile is sedimentary and has a variety of clay and layers of gravels. Through these porous layers, water percolation in the soil occurs and the depth of water table is about 15 to 20 m and at some places even less than that. Therefore all the ancient dug wells vary from a depth of 3.6 metres to 12.5 metres [3]. Surface and groundwater levels are estimated by Ground Water Estimation Committees which has a detailed report on Ayodhya and Faizabad region which is closer to the city limits like Bikapur Block and Maya bazar Block in which groundwater Block balance is lowest [3]. Because of the over- exploitation of underground water through dug wells & bore wells, the Kunds near the Parikrama Margs are deprived of quantity and quality of water resources and thus unable/ insufficient to support the pilgrims during their Parikrama. As per the ancient route of 5 Kosi parikrama Marg, there are 3 kunds which lie on the parikrama Marg with several other kunds close to the parikrama region of 5 Kosi. These kunds care to be known as Dant Dhawan Kund, Vidya Kund & Dashrat Kund. These kunds provide water as a resource for the pilgrims for their basic needs. Since Ayodhya is a sacred city there are several festivals and fairs that occur in the city on yearly basis. Some of the important festivals are [5]: 1. Shravan Jhula (July- August) 2. Parikrama Mela (Oct- Nov) range from 5, 14. 84 Kosi 3. Ramnavmi (March- April) 4. Rathyatra (June- July) 5. Saryu Snan (Oct- Nov) i.e. the holy dip 6. Ram Vivah (Nov) 7. Ramayan Mela (Dec- January) 8. Snan on every Amavasya & Purnima 9. Bharat Kund Mela, Gupta Ghat Mela, Balavak Tirth Mela, etc. http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJCIET 737 [email protected] Ayodhya: the Backbone of Hindu Ideology These Festival activities in the holy city create a religious environment in and around the city limits thereby attracting people from different places around the country and abroad. The people participating in these festivals and fairs continue their respective journeys – ‘The parikrama Marg’. Though some of the pilgrims are highly devotional towards religion but sometimes get hesitant towards the same due to non-availability or lack of facilities and the provided infrastructure. Talking about Parikrama Marg, 5 Kosi Parikrama Marg i.e. approx 15 km length contain various water bodies and kunds along the Marg. A minor portion of the Marg touches the Saryu River from where the parikrama originally starts and completes a full circle. These parikrama Margs contain various Padav Sthals or it could be said that where kunds and water system are available, Padav Sthals have been developed due to necessity of rest areas around the Parikrama Marg. Among these kunds, Dant Dhawan Kund is the first kund which has a length and width of around 35mX35m and an overall depth of 8 metres. This Kund is surrounded by residential complexes in abundance and thus leaves no breathing space for the pilgrims who stay around the kund. These complexes are devoid of any water discharge systems and regular water supply system from the Municipal Authority; thereby entirely depending on the underground water for their basic needs. A tremendous drop in permanent water level around that area has been observed in past few years as the kunds recharge the underground water level. Further, all these kunds have been paved in the course of past few years and the newly constructed platforms has been raised above the existing road levels. Thus, the natural slope around the kund areas has got disturbed and the rainwater catchment from the surrounding land is reduced tremendously resulting in less water pouring into the kunds. Since the evaporation rate is too high, most of the kunds water get evaporated, resulting a very less amount of water remaining in kund, insufficient to fulfil the function and basic requirements of the pilgrims i.e. drinking and bathing. 2. OBJECTIVES The objective of this paper is to find the ways for Restoration of Parikrama Marg by means of restoring water bodies along with facilities provided on Parikrama Marg. Following is the list of suggestions to be considered: 1. Conservation of water bodies like Kunds and ponds along the Marg, 2. Municipal Water Supply and Sewer System to be provided in the areas close to Kunds and water bodies in order to avoid dependency of people on the underground water and water discharge [4]. 3. Conservation and Reuse of Heritage structure and facilities for tourism infrastructure. 4. The revival of Panch Kosi Yatra Marg and rural area development of pilgrim infrastructure for night halts The architectural challenges in this particular project are to create a built environment which will satisfy the basic needs of the pilgrims without projecting the yatra as a commercial manifesto. It helps in, maintaining the waste management of a particular area by designing the shelter and waste management techniques in order to reduce the loss in the environment and ecological system. 2.1. Kund 1: Dant Dhawan kund http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJCIET 738 [email protected] Ar. Madhavendra Pratap Singh and Dr. Vandana Sehgal Coordinates 26°47'39.40"N 82°12'13.67"E Figure 1 Settlement around the kund area. Figure 2 Section of the kund (Source: Author) (Source: Author) Figure 3, 4, 5 Shows Dant Dhawan kund which is surrounded by densely populated area and Dharamshala. (Source: Author) After Dant Dhawan Kund, second padav, we have Vidya Kund which is situated slightly on the outer verges of a city where very fewer habitats are present.