Episode 241

NEW DELHI: Delivering the Ayodhya judgment, the apex court relied on Hindu scriptures Skand Puran, Sri Ramcharitmanas and Valmiki’s Ramayana and three foreign travelogues— English historian William Flinch, accounts of Jesuit missionary Joseph Tiefenthaler and British surveyor Robert Montgomery Martin. Referring to the Skand Puran, the court said there is a reference to the place of birth of Lord Ram in an extract for scripture. Appearing for the Sunni Central Waqf Board, Zafaryab Jilani argued that there is no reference to the Ram Janmabhumi site either in Valmiki’s Ramayan or in Ramacharitmanas.