| Ayodhya dispute |
|---|
| Organizations |
The Vishnu Hari inscription (or Hari-Vishnu inscription) is the name given to a Sanskrit language inscription found in the Uttar Pradesh state of India. It records the construction of a temple by Anayachandra, a feudatory of the king named Govindachandra, and also contains a eulogy of Anayachandra's dynasty. Its date portion is missing, and its authenticity has been a matter of controversy.
The inscription is said to have been found among the debris of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya when a group of Hindu activists demolished the mosque in 1992. They had long claimed that the Muslim ruler Babur had constructed the mosque after destroying a Hindu temple marking the birthplace of the Hindu deity Rama (an incarnation of Vishnu). Those who believe that a temple existed at the Babri mosque site consider the inscription as evidence of their claim, identifying the king as the 12th century Gahadavala king Govindachandra.
Others have claimed that the inscription was planted at the Babri mosque site by Hindu activists. According to one theory, the inscription is actually the Treta Ka Thakur inscription, which was found at another mosque in Ayodhya by Alois Anton Führer in the 19th century and later transferred to the Lucknow State Museum. The theory posits that it was brought to Ayodhya from Lucknow museum, and planted at the Babri mosque site. Yet another theory claims that it is a 17th-century inscription that was later planted at the site.