Ayodhya (Hindustani: [jodja] (listen); IAST: Ayodhy) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Faizabad district as well as the Faizabad division of Uttar Pradesh, India. It shares a municipal corporation with its neighbouring twin city of Faizabad.

Ayodhya, also known as Saketa, is an ancient city of India, is the birthplace of Rama and setting of the great epic Ramayana. Ayodhya used to be the capital of the ancient Kosala Kingdom. It has an average elevation of 93 meters (305 feet). Owing to the belief as the birthplace of Rama, Ayodhya (Awadhpuri) has been regarded as first one of the seven most important pilgrimage sites (Mokshdayini Sapt Puris) for Hindus.The early Buddhist and Jain canonical texts mention that the religious leaders Gautama Buddha and Mahavira visited and lived in the city. The Jain texts also describe it as the birthplace of five tirthankaras namely, Rishabhanatha, Ajitanatha, Abhinandananatha, Sumatinath and Anantnath, and associate it with the legendary Bharata Chakravarti. From the Gupta period onwards, several sources mention Ayodhya and Saketa as the name of the same city.

Owing to the belief as the birthplace of Ram, Ayodhya has been regarded as one of the seven most important pilgrimage sites for Hindus. It is believed that a temple stood at the supposed birth spot of Rama, which was demolished by the orders of the Mughal emperor Babur and a mosque erected in its place. In 1992, the dispute over the spot led to the demolition of mosque by Hindu mobs, who aimed to rebuild a grand temple of Rama at the site. A five-judge full bench of the Supreme Court heard the title cases from August to October 2019 and ruled that the land belonged to the government per tax records, and ordered it to be handed over to a trust to build a Hindu temple. It also ordered the government to give an alternative 5 acres (2.0 ha) of land to the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board to build a mosque in lieu of the demolished Babri mosque. The construction of Ram Mandir commenced in August 2020.

Babri Masjid (IAST: Bābarī Masjid; meaning Mosque of Babur) was a mosque in Ayodhya, India, at a site believed by many Hindus to be the birthplace of Hindu deity Rama. It has been a focus of dispute between the Hindu and Muslim communities since the 18th century. According to the mosque's inscriptions, it was built in 1528–29 (935 AH) by general Mir Baqi, on the orders of the Mughal emperor Babur. 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 Hindus, Baqi destroyed a pre-existing temple of Rama at the site. The existence of this temple is a matter of controversy. However, Archaeological Survey of India conducted an excavation of the disputed site on the orders of Supreme court. Various materials have been found during excavation which suggest the presence of a Hindu structure beneath. Also, The Supreme Court noted that the Babri Masjid was not built on a vacant land and the excavated underneath structure was not Islamic in nature.Starting in the 19th century, there were several conflicts and court disputes between Hindus and Muslims over the mosque. In 1949, Hindu activists associated with the Hindu Mahasabha surreptitiously placed idols of Rama inside the mosque, after which the government locked the building to avoid further disputes. Court cases were filed by both Hindus and Muslims asking for access. The police locked the gates so that the public (Hindus as well as Muslims) could not enter.On 6 December 1992, a large group of Hindu activists belonging to the Vishva Hindu Parishad and allied organisations demolished the mosque, triggering riots all over the Indian subcontinent, resulting in the death of around 2,000 people.In September 2010, the Allahabad High Court upheld the claim that the mosque was built on the spot believed to be Rama's birthplace and awarded the site of the central dome for the construction of a Rama temple. Muslims were also awarded one-third area of the site for the construction of a mosque. The decision was subsequently appealed by all parties to the Supreme Court, wherein a five judge bench heard a title suit from August to October 2019. On 9 November 2019, the Supreme Court quashed the lower court's judgement and ordered the entire site (2.77 acre land) to be handed over to a trust to build the Hindu temple. It also ordered the government to give an alternative five-acre plot to the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board to replace the Babri Masjid that was demolished in 1992. The government allotted a site in the village of Dhannipur, 11 miles (18 km) from Ayodhya and 19 miles (30 km) by road from the site of the original Babri Masjid. The construction of the mosque started on 26 January, 2021.