Stoking acontroversy, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Monday said that the"real" Ayodhya lies in Nepal and not in India. He also went on to saythat Lord Ram was Nepali and not Indian. He was born in Thori in southernNepal, Oli said. The embattled prime minister was speaking at an event on thebirth anniversary of Nepalese poet Bhanubhakta at the Prime Minister'sresidence in Kathmandu. Oli said that Nepal "has become a victim ofcultural encroachment and its history has been manipulated."

"Althoughthe real Ayodhya lies at Thori in the west of Birgunj, India has claimed theIndian site as the birthplace of Lord Ram,” Oli said.

We alsobelieve that deity Sita got married to Prince Ram of India. Actually, Ayodhyais a village lying west of Birgunj,” he said, adding that the marriage betweenbride and bridegroom at such a distance was not possible at the time when therewas no communication and transportation system

The placecalled Thori, near Birgunj is the real Ayodhya, where Lord Ram was born. InIndia there is great dispute on Ayodhya. But, there is no dispute in ourAyodhya," Prime Minister Oli was quoted as saying by his press advisorSurya Thapa.

“ValmikiAshram is also in Nepal and the holy place where King Dasharath had executedthe rites to get the son is in Ridi, which is in Nepal,” he said. As Dasharathwas the ruler of Nepal, it is natural that his son Ram was also born in Nepal,Oli argued. Therefore, real Ayodhya lies in Nepal, he claimed.

Manyscientific inventions and knowledge originated in Nepal, but unfortunately sucha rich tradition could not continue later, Oli said.

Hisallegations have been criticised by senior NCP leaders, including former primeminister 'Prachanda', who demanded Prime Minister Oli's resignation, saying hisrecent anti-India remarks were "neither politically correct nordiplomatically appropriate."

TheIndia-Nepal bilateral ties came under strain after Defence Minister RajnathSingh inaugurated a 80-km-long strategically crucial road connecting theLipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8. Nepal reacted sharply tothe inauguration of the road claiming that it passed through Nepaleseterritory. India rejected the claim asserting that the road lies completelywithin its territory.

Recently,Nepal redrew the country's political map through a constitutional amendment,incorporating three strategically important Indian areas. The Nepal Parliamentalso approved the new political map of the country featuring Lipulekh, Kalapaniand Limpiyadhura areas which India maintains belong to it. India has alreadytermed as "untenable" the artificial enlargement" of theterritorial claims by Nepal.

Last week,Nepal stopped the transmission of all Indian private news channels exceptDoordarshan, accusing them of airing reports hurting the country's nationalsentiment.