Abstract
in Sanskrit, Ayodhya means "the Impregnable", or "the one that cannot be conquered". At first sight, the Ayodhya site in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh was conquered at least twice : when the Mughal emperor Babur ordered to build a mosque on a sacred place for Hindus back in 1528, and in 1992 when Hindu activists undertook to demolish the mosque resulting in bloody riots. Ayodhya is an ancient sacred city in the district of Faizabad, about 550 km to the east from New Delhi, and situated on the right bank of the Gaghra river. Originally one of the seven sacred cities in Hinduism as well as the site of a mosque, Ayodhya has been the bone of contention between Muslims and Hindus for four centuries. Tensions have simmered between the two communities ever since. These tensions are rather perceptible in this most densely populated state of India, with over 100 million inhabitants, and hosting one of the biggest Muslim populations of India with 31 million Muslims. So, on the one hand, the state of Uttar Pradesh is the cultural center of India, at the heart of the classic Hindustan. On the other hand, it hosts a significant Muslim minority representing 13 per cent of the population, while the Hindus represent 83 per cent of the Uttar Pradesh population. These two social groups are both ethnic and religious communities.
