Ram Janmabhoomi in the context of "Ayodhya dispute"

The Ram Mandir (ISO: Rāma Maṁdira, lit. 'Rama Temple'), is a Hindu temple complex in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India. Many Hindus believe that it is located at the site of Ram Janmabhoomi, the mythical birthplace of Rama, a principal deity of Hinduism.

The temple was inaugurated on 22 January 2024 in an elaborate ceremony led by Indian Prime Minister Modi, in which the Hindu priests performed religious rituals for prāṇa pratiṣṭhā (transl. consecration) of the deity. On the first day of its opening, the temple received a rush of over half a million visitors. The temple has a high number of daily visitors reportedly between 100,000 and 150,000. Ram Mandir become Uttar Pradesh state's top religious tourism destination drawing over 135.5 million visitors in 2024. The temple construction was completed on 25 November 2025 with an event marked by hoisting of the Dharma Dhwaja (sacred flag).

The Babri Masjid (ISO: Bābarī Masjida; meaning Mosque of Babur) was a mosque located in Ayodhya, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It was claimed that the mosque was built upon the site of Ram Janmabhoomi, the legendary birthplace of Rama, a principal deity of Hinduism. The Ayodhya dispute has been a disputed focal point between the Hindu and Muslim communities since the 19th century. According to the mosque's inscriptions, it was built in 935 AH (1528/1529CE) by Mir Baqi, a commander of the Mughal emperor Babur. Before the 1940s, the masjid was officially known as "Masjid-i-Janmasthan" ("the mosque of the birthplace"). The mosque was attacked and demolished by a Hindu nationalist mob in 1992, which ignited communal violence across the Indian subcontinent.

The mosque was located on a hill known as Ramkot ("Rama's fort"). According to Hindu nationalists, Baqi destroyed a pre-existing temple of Rama at the site. The existence of this temple is a matter of controversy. The Archaeological Survey of India conducted an excavation of the disputed site on the orders of the Allahabad High Court. The excavation period was short due to court time constraints, lasting only 15 days. The report of the excavation concluded that there were ruins of "a massive structure" beneath the ruins of the mosque which was "indicative of remains which are distinctive features found associated with the temples of north India", but found no evidence that the structure was specifically demolished for the construction of the Babri Masjid. The report received both praise and criticism, with some other archaeologists contesting the results of the report.

The Babri Masjid, a 16th-century mosque in the Indian city of Ayodhya, was destroyed on 6 December 1992 by a large group of activists of the Vishva Hindu Parishad and allied organisations. The mosque had been the subject of a lengthy socio-political dispute, and was targeted after a political rally organised by Hindu nationalist organisations turned violent.

In Hindu tradition, the city of Ayodhya is the birthplace of Rama. In the 16th century, a Mughal commander, Mir Baqi, had built a mosque, known as the Babri Masjid at a site identified by some Hindus as Ram Janmabhoomi, or the birthplace of Rama. The Archaeological Survey of India states that the mosque was built on land where a non-Islamic structure had previously existed. In the 1980s, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) began a campaign for the construction of a temple dedicated to Rama at the site, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as its political voice. Several rallies and marches were held as a part of this movement, including the Ram Rath Yatra led by L. K. Advani.