Ayodhya is a city situated on the banks of the 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.

The history of Uttar Pradesh is very much associated with the broad history of India. It dates back to 4000 years. Formerly the area of Uttar Pradesh was occupied by the Aryans or the Dasas and their main occupation was agriculture. The Aryans, through conquests occupied the adjoining areas too.

They laid the foundations their civilisation in the region. It was during the Aryan inhabitation in the region that epics of Mahabharata, Ramayana, Brahmanas and Puranas were written.

The state is the heart of Mahabharata war. The Kosala Kingdom of Ayodhya is said to have been incarnated in the city of Mathura.

It was around the middle of the 1st millennium BC that Uttar Pradesh saw the advent of Lord Buddha and the spread of Buddhism. Around the time Lord Buddha delivered his first sermon at Dhamek Stupa in Sarnath when Uttar Pradesh was under the Magadh rule. Here Chaukhandi Stupa marks the spot where Lord Buddha met his disciples.