After Allahabad was renamed Prayagraj, it was the turn of Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh to be on the re-naming block as UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced on Tuesday that the district would now be known as Ayodhya.
The district is made of two towns: Faizabad and Ayodhya, which is Lord Ram's birthplace and one of Hinduism's holiest sites. Calls to re-name Faizabad gathered momentum after Allahabad's name was changed last month.
Adityanath, before his visit to Ayodhya on Tuesday, had promised 'good news' for the people of the city particularly Ram devotees leading to speculation that he would announce the construction of Ram statue and speak about the construction of Ram temple on the site where the demolished Babri mosque stood.
Last week, the Supreme Court had put off hearing in the case to January, which led to calls for an ordinance to be promulgated to facilitate the building of the temple.
The UP CM also announced the setting up of a medical college and an airport named after King Dashrath and Ram, respectively.
Meanwhile, South Korean first lady Kim Jung-sook, who is on a visit to India, laid the foundation stone for the Heo Hwang-ok Memorial Park in Ayodhya earlier in the day. According to a Korean legend, Heo, who was a princess of Ayodhya, travelled to Korea around 1,968 years ago in 48 AD and married King Kim-Suro. More than 60 lakhs Koreans trace their lineage to Heo.
Demand to rename Agra as Agravan
BJP MLA from Agra North, Jagan Prasad Garg has written a letter to Adityanath demanding that Agra's name should be changed to Agravan.
In the letter, he mentions that the city was originally known as Agravan and it finds mention in Mahabharat.
"Later it was named Akbarabad and then Agra which has no meaning. There were many forests in the vicinity and majority of people here are Agarwals, who are followers of Maharaja Agrasen, therefore it is apt it should be named Agravan," Garg said.
