UP sanctions Rs 30L for documenting Lord Ram’s global footprint

New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government is funding a study on Lord Ram’s international footprint, from inscriptions of Lord Ram and Hanuman found on rocks in Italy and Iraq to an idol of Lord Hanuman found in a jungle in Hondruas in Central America.

Such findings, if confirmed, could be documented and featured in the international digital museum on the life of Lord Ram which is coming up in Ayodhya, said UP government officials.

The Yogi Adityanath government has allotted Rs 30 lakh to a research institute in Ayodhya, the Ayodhya Shodh Sansthan, and released the first instalment of Rs 15 lakh for documenting ‘Ram Sanskriti Ki Vishwa Yatra’ (international journey of the legend of Lord Ram), as per an order of the state culture department dated December 13, accessed by ET.


The exercise could involve travel to several countries to survey, research, document and publish the international footprint of Lord Ram. The research institute submitted a proposal to this effect to the UP government on September 20.

As per the proposal, expeditions in a jungle in Hondruas led to the discovery of remains of an ancient city and the statue of Lord Hanuman, which international media reports described as the “City of the Monkey God’”.

In Italy, as per the institute, pictures of Lord Ram, Sita, Lakshman, Hanuman and various events of the Ramayana have been found dating back to 5 B.C. while in Iraq, an inscription in form of a painting of Lord Ram and Hanuman has been found on the rocks of Darband-i-Belula dating back to 2000 B.C. India’s Ambassador in Iraq has reportedly confirmed this to the research Institute.