Gorakhpur, Jan 12 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Tourism Minister Neelkanth Tiwari on Tuesday asserted that it was Tulsidas' Ramcharitmanas and the Ramlila based on the epic that spread the message that Lord Ram is our king and not the Mughal emperor Babar or Aurangzeb.

The minister made the remarks in his inaugural address of the Gorakhpur Mahotsav.

Saint Tulsidas wrote the epic when contemporary Mughal rulers were forcing religious conversion in the country at the point of sword, he said.

"When rulers were doing forcing religious conversion at the point of the sword, Tulsidas wrote Ramcharitmanas and Ramlila reached villages, which spread the message that our king is not Babar or Aurangzeb,” said the minister.

“Our king is Raja Ram and that is why we raise slogan 'Raja Ram Ki Jai'," said Tiwari.

Tiwari said, "They named Ayodhaya as Faizabad, but Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath not only gave Ayodhaya its lost glory but also made a resolution to make Ayodhaya the most beautiful city of the world."

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)