Puranas to travelogues, all cited in Supreme Court in Ayodhya case

New Delhi: From the ‘Puranas’ written by sages to travelogues of an English trader, a missionary and a physician, the counsel for deity ‘Ram Lalla’ cited them all in the Supreme Court on Wednesday to buttress claims that Hindus have long believed Ayodhya to be the birthplace of Lord Ram. ‘Ram Lalla’, a party in the decades-old Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute, informed the top court through its counsel that all the relevant historical material available shows the faith and belief of Hindus that Ayodhya was janamsthan (birthplace) of Lord Ram and that there was a temple at the disputed site.

A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi was told by senior advocate C.S. Vaidyanathan, appearing for ‘Ram Lalla’, that various historical texts recorded the faith and belief of Hindus about Lord Ram’s birthplace.

“What is significant in these publications is the way faith and belief of Hindus in Lord Ram and Ayodhya has been perceived. This faith and belief of Hindus has remained in the past and has continued as recorded in various books. If this is belief of the people then the land can't be bisected or trisected,” Vaidyanathan told the bench, also comprising Justices S.A. Bobde, D.Y. Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S.A. Nazeer.

Referring to a travelogue written by English merchant William Finch, who had visited India in 1608-11, Vaidynathan told the bench that he has recorded that there was a fort or a castle in Ayodhya which Hindus believed to be the birthplace of Lord Rama.