Complete Detailed Timeline, Chronology of Ayodhya Ram Mandir and Babri mosque Demolition –

Complete Detailed Timeline, Chronology of Ayodhya Ram Mandir and Babri mosque Demolition –


Allahabad High Court’s Lucknow bench will deliver its verdict on the 60-year-old Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi case.

The judgment on the 60-year-old title suit will be pronounced at 3.30 p.m. on September 24. The court reserved its judgment on July 26.


It combines five suits, the last of which, filed in 1989, actually lists the two plaintiffs as “Bhagwan Shri Ram Lala Virajman and Asthan Shri Ram Janmabhoomi”, represented by “their next friend” Justice Deoki Nandan Agarwal, a retired judge and a former VHP vice-president. Agarwal is dead, as are two other petitioners Gopal Singh Visharad and Mahant Paramhans Ramchandra Das.

The date of the construction of the Babri Mosque is disputed. Before the 1940s, the Mosque was called "Masjid-i Janmasthan".

The Indian city of Ayodhya, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, is located 550 km east of New Delhi. The name Ayodhya means, “Not to be warred against,”


Below is history, chronology, timeline of the Ram Temple and Babri Mosque Demolition:–

1. Year 1528: Babur, Mughal Empire, builds a mosque in Ram Janmabhoomi, Ayodhya. Some Hindus say Ram Janmabhoomi is the birthplace of Lord Rama

2. Year 1853: First recorded incidents of religious violence at the site.

3. Year 1855: Hindus and Muslims clash over possession of the mosque. There are claims that Sita Rasoi and Ram Chabootara were built around this time

4. Year 1859: British colonial administration erects a fence to separate the places of worship, allowing the inner court to be used by Muslims and the outer court by Hindus.

5. Year 1885: Mahant Raghubar Das files a suit seeking permission to build a canopy on Ram Chabootra

6. Year 1949: Idols of Lord Rama appear inside mosque allegedly placed there by Hindus. Muslims protest and both parties file civil suits. The government proclaims the premises a disputed area and locks the gates.

7. Year 1950: Gopal Singh Visharad and Mahant Paramhand Ramchandra Das file suits in Faizabad, asking for permission to offer prayers to the idols installed at Asthan Janmabhoomi. Inner courtyard gates are locked, but puja is allowed

8. Year 1959: Nirmohi Akhara and Mahant Raghunath file a case, claiming to be the sect responsible for conducting puja

9. Year 1961: Sunni Central Board of Waqfs, UP, files a case claiming the mosque and the surrounding land was a graveyard

10. Year 1984: Hindus form a committee to "liberate" the birth-place of Lord Rama and build a temple in his honor, spearheaded by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad party (VHP). Then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Lal Krishna Advani takes over leadership of campaign.

11. Year 1986: On a petition of Hari Shanker Dubey, a judge directs masjid gates be unlocked to allow darshan.District judge orders the gates of the disputed mosque opened to allow Hindus to worship there. Muslims set up Babri Mosque Action Committee in protest.

12. Year 1989: VHP steps up campaign, laying the foundations of a Rama temple on land adjacent to the disputed mosque. Former VHP vice-president Justice Deoki Nandan Agarwal files a case, seeking the mosque be shifted elsewhere

13. Year 1990: VHP volunteers partially damage the mosque. Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar tries to resolve the dispute through negotiations, which fail the next year.

14. Year 1991: BJP comes to power in Uttar Pradesh state, where Ayodhya is located.

15. Year 1992: The mosque is torn down by supporters of the VHP, the Shiv Sena party and the BJP, prompting nationwide rioting between Hindus and Muslims in which more than 2,000 people die.

16. Year 1998: The BJP forms coalition government under Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

17. Year 2001: Tensions rise on the anniversary of the demolition of the mosque. VHP pledges again to build Hindu temple at the site.

18. Year 2002: The High Court directs the Archaeological Survey of India to excavate the site to determine if a temple lay underneath

19. Year Jan 2002: Mr Vajpayee sets up an Ayodhya cell in his office and appoints a senior official, Shatrughna Singh, to hold talks with Hindu and Muslim leaders.

20. Year Feb 2002: BJP rules out committing itself to the construction of a temple in its election manifesto for Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. VHP confirms deadline of 15 March to begin construction. Hundreds of volunteers converge on site. At least 58 people are killed in an attack on a train in Godhra which is carrying Hindu activists returning from Ayodhya.

21. Year Mar 2002: Between 1,000 and 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, die in riots in Gujarat following the train attack.

22. Year Apr 2002: Three High Court judges begin hearings on determining who owns the religious site.

23. Year Jan 2003: Archaeologists begin a court-ordered survey to find out whether a temple to Lord Rama existed on the site.

24. Year -Aug 2003: The survey says there is evidence of a temple beneath the mosque, but Muslims dispute the findings. Mr Vajpayee says at the funeral of Hindu activist Ramchandra Das Paramhans that he will fulfill the dying man's wishes and build a temple at Ayodhya. However, he hopes the courts and negotiations will solve the issue.

25. Year -Sept 2003: A court rules that seven Hindu leaders should stand trial for inciting the destruction of the Babri Mosque, but no charges are brought against Mr Advani, now deputy prime minister, who was also at the site in 1992.

26. Year -Oct 2004: Mr Advani says his party still has "unwavering" commitment to building a temple at Ayodhya, which he said was "inevitable".

27. Year -Nov 2004: A court in Uttar Pradesh rules that an earlier order which exonerated Mr Advani for his role in the destruction of the mosque should be reviewed.

28. Year -July 2005 Suspected Islamic militants attack the disputed site, using a jeep laden with explosives to blow a hole in the wall of the complex. Security forces kill five people they say are militants, and a sixth who was not immediately identified.

29. Year -June 2009: The Liberhan commission investigating events leading up to the mosque's demolition submits its report - 17 years after it began its inquiry. Its contents are not made public.

30. Year -July 2010 - On July 27, the court took the initiative for an amicable solution to the dispute when it called on counsel for the contending parties to go into the possibility. But no headway was made.

31. Year -September 2010 - The Special Bench, at its Bench of Judicature here, comprising Justices S.U. Khan, D.V. Sharma and Sudhir Agarwal, said that Mr. Tripathi's application lacked merit. It also imposed “exemplary costs” of Rs. 50,000, terming his effort for an out-of-court settlement as a “mischievous attempt.”

32. Year - Mr. Tripathi's plea was opposed by the Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha and the Sunni Central Board of Waqfs, which submitted separate replies to the OSD on September 16. Stating that an amicable solution was not possible, they alleged that the application was mala fide.

33. Year -24th September 2010 - The judgment on the 60-year-old title suit will be pronounced at 3.30 p.m. on September 24. The court reserved its judgment on July 26.

UPDATE- Thursday, September 23, 2010
SC delays the verdict for one week in Ram Mandir and Babri Case-
Supreme Court of India delays the verdict in the Ram Temple and Babri Mosque Demolition.
Ramesh Chandra Tripathi filed a petition regarding this and Supreme court of India delayed the verdict for one week and issued the notice to all concern parties.
So there will be no verdict tomorrow that is on 24th in this case.
SC will again hear this deferment petition on 28th September 2010.
SC Bench is headed by Justice Ravindran and Bench itself has different opinion on this and now next hearing will be heard on 28th September.

The Ayodhya verdict - Update – 25th September 2010 -
The Ayodhya verdict deferment petition in the Supreme Court will be heard by a three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia on the September 28.The other judges are Justice Aftab Alam and Justice KS Radhakrishnan.
The matter has been listed as the first item on the agenda at 10.30 am on Tuesday.The Ayodhya verdict Update - 28th September 2010 –

A three-judge special bench comprising of Chief Justice of India SH Kapadia, Justice Aftab Alam and Justice KS Radhakrishnan announced that the three-judge High Court bench could go ahead with the pronouncement of judgement while dismissing the special leave petition of Ramesh Chandra Tripathi that had appealed for deferment of the verdict so that an out-of-court settlement could be tried.

All the three judges concurred that the stay order must be lifted and dismissed Tripathi's petition.

Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court. Will deliver the verdict on September 30 at 3:30 PM.

The three-judge special bench of the High Court comprising of Justice SU Khan, Justice Sudhir Agrawal and Justice Dharam
Veer Sharma is scheduled to deliver the verdict.
Justice Dharam Veer Sharma will be retiring on October 1.

The verdict in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit dispute would decide whether the 2.77 acres of disputed land on which Babri Masjid stood before it was demolished on December 6, 1992, belongs to Sunni Central Wakf Board or to the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha.

Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court. Will deliver the verdict on September 30 at 3:30 PM.

Suggested Reading –

Allahabad high court gives final judgment in Ayodhya case – Complete judgment of the Ayodhya case


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Saturday, September 18, 2010