Ram Katha Park, Ayodhya - Timings, Entry Fee, Best Time to Visit

At a distance of 3 km from Ayodhya Junction, Ram Katha Park is a beautiful park situated on the banks of the Sarayu River in Ayodhya. It is one of the popular places to visit during your Ayodhya Trip.

Ram Katha Park is a beautiful, spacious, and well-maintained park that provides much-needed solace from the crowds of the town. The park has open-air theatres and well-kept lawns. Spread over a vast area of land, it is a popular venue for devotional programs, cultural performances, religious events, and Katha recital sessions. It also offers opportunities to budding artists, both local and outsiders, to showcase their talent in theatrical performances, dance, music, and poetry. The park is a popular leisure destination for visitors of all age groups who spend their evenings and weekends in a spiritually charged environment.

Ayodhya, being the birthplace of Shri Ram, remains heavily crowded with pilgrims and tourists all through the year. Although the city boasts of a large number of temples, ghats, historical buildings, and monuments, the ever-increasing crowds cause excessive strain upon these places and also create a host of other civic problems like congestion, especially during the festival seasons. Ram Katha Park was built to ease the pressure upon these holy places and the innards of the city.

Ram Katha Park is undergoing a beautification and will be soon known as Queen Heo Hwang-ok Memorial Park after a Korean queen with Indian roots. It is believed that the Korean queen was born as Princess Suriratna of Ayodhya, daughter of King Padmasen who ruled the ancient kingdom of Kosala. Siriratna's story can be found in a 13th-century collection of legends, the Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of Three Kingdoms). The legend has it that in 48 BC, Suriratana when 16, traveled to Korea from the ancient city of 'Ayuta' and married Kim Suro, king of south-eastern Korean state, Geumgwan Gaya after her father led by a dream sent her to the foreign land in a boat with an entourage. She became the first queen of the newly founded kingdom, believed to be located in modern-day Gimhae city in Southern Gyeongsang province.

The memorial space was unveiled in 2001 after India signed an agreement with South Korea to develop Gimhae and Ayodhya as sister cities. Five years down, the South Korean delegation sent a proposal to revamp the existing memorial. Next PM Modi and South Korean President Moon Jae-in signed an MoU to beautify the memorial. After restoration work, the park now houses the busts of the Queen and King on a pavilion and a pond the represents the princess's journey from India to South Korea. There is an egg made of granite that represents the golden egg she took with her during her journey.

Timings: 6 AM - 7 PM

Entry: Free