The Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh will be renamed as Ayodhya, said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday. Ayodhya is a symbol of our aan, baan aur shaan (honour, pride and prestige), the chief minister said in his Diwali speech in the holy city revered by Hindus as the birth place of Lord Ram.
"Ayodhya hamari aan baan shaan ka prateek hai, Ayodhya ki pehchan Bhagwan Ram se hai. Aaj se is janpad (Faizabad) ka naam bhi Ayodhya hoga," Adityanath said. The announcement comes days after the Uttar Pradesh government officially renamed Allahabad as Prayagraj.
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The Faizabad district comprises the twin towns of Faizabad and Ayodhya on the banks the river Sarayu. Adityanath said his government would construct an airport and a medical college in Ayodhya and would name it after Lord Ram and King Dasharatha (Ram's father in the Ramayana) respectively.
“A medical college will be established here in Ayodhya, I want it to be named after King Dasharatha. We will also construct an airport here named after Lord Ram,” he said while addressing the gathering at Deepotsav.
Earlier, Adityanath had defended his renaming exercise and asked why those protesting people are not named Raavan or Duryodhan.
South Korean First lady Kim Jung-sook, accompanying a cultural delegation, attended the grand Diwali celebrations, which included a dazzling display of lakhs of diya at Ram ki Paidi.
The Deepotsav is an initiative by the Tourism and Cultural Department of Uttar Pradesh to celebrate Lord Ram's victory over Ravana.
