Ayodhya. quoted in Kishore, Kunal (2016). Ayodhyā revisited. ch 11, also in Jain, M. (2017). The battle of Rama: Case of the temple at Ayodhya. chapter 1
“

“The oldest pieces of archaeological evidence are the black columns which remain from the old (Visnu) temple that was situated on the holy spot where Rama descended to earth (Janma-bhumi). This temple was destroyed by the first Mogul prince Babur in AD 1528 and replaced by a mosque which still exists. The following specimens of these pillars are known to exist: fourteen pillars were utilized by the builder Mir Baqi in the construction of the mosque and are still partly visible within it; two pillars were placed besides the grave of the Muslim saint Fazl Abbas alias Musa Ashikhan, who, according to oral tradition, incited Babur to demolish the Hindu temple. The grave and these two pillars (driven upside-down into the ground) are still shown in Ayodhya, a little south of the Kubertila. A seventeenth specimen is found in the new Janmasthana temple of the north of the Babur mosque. It is rather a door-jamb than a column.”

— Hans T. Bakker

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "“The oldest pieces of archaeological evidence are the black columns which remain from the old (Visnu) temple that was situated on the holy spot where Rama descended to earth (Janma-bhumi). This temple was destroyed by the first Mogul prince Babur in AD 1528 and replaced by a mosque which still exists. The following specimens of these pillars are known to exist: fourteen pillars were utilized by the builder Mir Baqi in the construction of the mosque and are still partly visible within it; two pillars were placed besides the grave of the Muslim saint Fazl Abbas alias Musa Ashikhan, who, according to oral tradition, incited Babur to demolish the Hindu temple. The grave and these two pillars (driven upside-down into the ground) are still shown in Ayodhya, a little south of the Kubertila. A seventeenth specimen is found in the new Janmasthana temple of the north of the Babur mosque. It is rather a door-jamb than a column.”" in the context of "Ayodhya. quoted in Kishore, Kunal (2016). Ayodhyā revisited. ch 11, also in Jain, M. (2017). The battle of Rama: Case of the temple at Ayodhya. chapter 1" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Hans T. Bakker" (Quotes, Bakker, Hans. 1986. Ayodhya) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Hans T. Bakker

About Hans T. Bakker

Hans T. Bakker (born 1948) is a cultural historian and Indologist, who has served as the Professor of the History of Hindusim and Jan Gonda Chair at the University of Groningen. He currently works in the British Museum as a researcher in project "Beyond Boundaries: Religion, Region, Language and the State".