View source for Sāketa

{{Short description|Sanskrit appellation of Ayodhya}}
{{For|the place named after it in Delhi|Saket (Delhi)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2025}}
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'''Sākēta''' ({{Langx|sa|साकेत|translit=Sākēta}}) is a Sanskrit appellation of the [[List of cities in India by population|Indian city]] of [[Ayodhya]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Allchin |first1=F. R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q5kI02_zW70C&dq=Saketa+Ayodhya&pg=PA298 |title=The Archaeology of Early Historic South Asia: The Emergence of Cities and States |last2=Erdosy |first2=George |date=1995-09-07 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-37695-2 |pages=298 |language=en}}</ref> ''Sākēta'' can be alternatively used for the abode of ''[[Vaikuntha|Vaikuṇṭha]]'' in [[Hindu epic|Hindu epics]], where [[Moksha|liberated souls]] dwell.<ref name="Tulasīdāsa1989">{{cite book|author=Tulasīdāsa|title=Gosvāmī Tulasīdāsakr̥ta Śrīrāmacaritamānasa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BiYt00x5tcQC&pg=PA892|accessdate=25 July 2013|year=1989|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0443-2|pages=892–}}</ref> "Sākēta", the name of the [[Awadh|Ayodhya Kingdom]] was later widespread by [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] travellers and far away traders for the collective name of the region's under this Kingdom. Overall, according to early chronicles found in [[Hindi]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], [[Marathi language|Marathi]], [[Odia language|Odia]], [[Sanskrit]] literature and [[Ramayana]] and [[Ramcharitmanas|Ramacharitamanasa]] the city bears the name of Ayodhya Kingdom, not Sākēta.

==In literature==
''Saket'' (1932), a famous [[Hindi]] [[epic poem]] by [[Maithili Sharan Gupt]], a modern-version of ''[[Ramcharitmanas|Ramacharitamanasa]]'', which described an ideal [[Hindu]] society and Rama as an ideal man.<ref name="Satyendra2000">{{cite book|author=Kuśa Satyendra|title=Dictionary Of Hindu Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UcAwrV60cpAC&pg=PA71|accessdate=25 July 2013|year=2000|publisher=Sarup & Sons|isbn=978-81-7625-159-4|pages=71–}}</ref><ref name="Pollet1995">{{cite book|author=Gilbert Pollet|title=Indian Epic Values: Rāmāyaṇa and Its Impact : Proceedings of the 8th International Rāmāyaṇa Conference, Leuven, 6-8 July 1991|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EVnK3q48dL0C&pg=PA198|accessdate=25 July 2013|year=1995|publisher=Peeters Publishers|isbn=978-90-6831-701-5|pages=198–}}</ref> It is an account of the ''[[Ramayana]]'' through the eyes of [[Urmila (Ramayana)|Urmila]], daughter of King [[Janaka]] of [[History of Mithila|Mithila]] and the younger sister of [[Sita]], who later became wife of [[Lakshmana]].{{Cn|date=July 2021}}

==In Buddhism==
In [[Buddhism]], the place is thought to be where the sons of Okkaka founded a city.{{Cn|date=July 2021}} Saketa, is one of the major cities of [[Kosala (Mahajanapada)|Kosala]] in early Buddhist texts<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Noorani |first=A.G. |title=The Babri Masjid Question, 1528-2003: 'A Matter of National Honour' |date=2014 |publisher=[[Tulika Books]] |isbn=9789382381457 |pages=29}}</ref>

Ayodhya signifies a great importance in the Buddhist literature. It is referred to as Saketa in traditional Buddhist literature. British archaeologist Alexander Cunningham who was also the first director general of the ASI identified three Buddhist places — Mani Parbat, Kuber Parbat and Sugriv Parbat at the site of Ayodhya.{{Cn|date=July 2021}}

== In Jainism ==
Jain texts refer to Saketa as the capital of Kosala.<ref name=":0" />

==See also==
* [[Mathura]]
* [[Dvārakā|Dvaraka]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{HinduMythology}}

[[Category:Places in Hindu mythology]]
[[Category:Ayodhya]]


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