Faizabad renamed Ayodhya
State chief minister also announces new airport named after Hindu deity
Close on the heels of renaming Allahabad as Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath yesterday announced that Faizabad district will henceforth be known as Ayodhya.
“Ayodhya is a symbol of our ‘aan, baan aur shaan’ (honour, pride and pomp)”, he said in the pilgrim town, about 120 km from state capital Lucknow.
“Nobody can do injustice to Ayodhya,” he said, adding that the holy city is identified by the Hindu deity Ram.
Adityanath was speaking on the occasion of “Deepotsav” on Diwali eve.
He also announced setting up of a new airport in Ayodhya, named after Ram, and a medical college in the name of King Dashrath, father of Ram, in the district. A section of the crowd was also heard chanting “Mandir ka nirman karao” (build a temple).
South Korean first lady Kim Jung-sook arrived in Ayodhya yesterday to attend Diwali festivities in the holy city and began her tour by offering tribute at the Queen Heo Memorial.
Kim visited the site, along with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the upgrade and beautification of the memorial dedicated to the legendary princess of Ayodhya who went to Korea.
Later she went to the banks of the Saryu river to welcome artists donning the avatar of deities Ram and Sita, who arrived at Ram Katha Park in a ceremonial chopper as part of ‘Ram Durbar’. Kim garlanded ‘Sita’ as they descended from the helicopter and Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik and Adityanath welcomed deities Ram and Laxman by garlanding them. Union Minister V.K. Singh also attended the grand event in Ayodhya.