Quick answer: Look at the year on the document before deciding anything. The district and division became Ayodhya in November 2018, the municipal body had already become Ayodhya Nagar Nigam in 2017, and the railway station changed in 2021. Meanwhile Faizabad city still exists and the parliamentary constituency is still called Faizabad. So a paper carrying that name is very often correct, and needs nothing done to it.
Elsewhere a name changed once. Here it changed in stages, and that is a different problem.
At a Glance
| Municipal body | Ayodhya Nagar Nigam, from 2017 |
| District and division | Renamed Ayodhya, November 2018 |
| Railway station | Ayodhya Cantt, from 2021 |
| Cantonment | Renamed later still |
| Parliamentary constituency | Still called Faizabad |
| Faizabad city | Still exists, about 7 km away |
| District area | Around 2,522 sq km |
| What to check | The year, not the name |
Key Takeaways
- This was not one rename but a sequence of them.
- Different layers changed in different years.
- Faizabad is still a current name for several things.
- So a document saying Faizabad may be perfectly current.
- Check the year and the layer, then do nothing if it fits.
What You Need: Quick Facts
| The year on the document | The first thing to look at |
| What issued it | Which layer it belongs to |
| Registration number | For birth records |
| Class 10 marksheet | The spelling anchor |
| Aadhaar | Corrected first |
| Gazette | Only for a real name change |
| Nothing extra for the place name | No affidavit needed for that |
| Patience at counters | Some staff are still adjusting too |
Table of Contents
- It changed in layers
- Faizabad is still a live name
- Read the year, not the name
- If a counter queries it
- What is local in Ayodhya
- What is not local at all
- Central Gazette: the complete process and file format
- Areas we serve
- Key terms
- Related guides
- Why choose our office
- FAQs
It Changed in Layers
Compare this with the simpler case, where a whole city changed on one date, set out on our Prayagraj page.
Faizabad Is Still a Live Name
| Still called Faizabad | Now called Ayodhya |
|---|---|
| The parliamentary constituency | The district |
| Faizabad city, as a place | The division |
| Older signage and records | The municipal corporation |
| Habit and daily speech | The railway station |
Read the Year, Not the Name
Find the year the document was issued
This is the single most useful thing on the page and it takes a second.
Note what body issued it
A municipal body, a school, a tehsil, the railway. Each belongs to a different layer with its own date.
If the year is before that layer changed, it is correct
Nothing to fix, nothing to explain, nothing to pay for.
If it is after, it is probably still fine
Records are not reissued because a name changed, and offices know this.
Use the current name on anything new
Which for the district means Ayodhya.
And leave your old documents alone
They describe what was true when they were made, which is exactly their job.
The same discipline applies wherever a map has moved, which on this site now covers a city, a district, a state and this sequence, all set out on our Saharanpur page and our Moradabad page.
If a Counter Queries It
- Say the year first, because the date explains the name faster than any argument.
- Point out that the constituency is still called Faizabad, which usually settles the question that both names remain in use.
- Do not offer an affidavit for this, since nothing is wrong and offering one implies something is.
- If they insist on something in writing, a plain covering note stating the district was renamed in 2018 is enough.
- Remember that staff are adjusting too, and a calm sentence works better than a printout.
What Is Local in Ayodhya
- Ayodhya Nagar Nigam registers births and deaths for the municipal area, covering both towns since the bodies were merged.
- Nagar Palikas, Nagar Panchayats and gram panchayats cover the rest of the district, across its tehsils.
- The district is also a divisional headquarters, so escalation above the district level stays here.
- Board corrections go through your own school and then the DIOS, as everywhere in the state.
- Newspapers publish a district edition, and any local advertising agent places these routinely.
Which six things are local in any UP district is set out on our districts page.
What Is Not Local At All
Central Gazette: the Complete Process and File Format
This is for changing your own name, not for anything to do with the district's. If your only question is Faizabad versus Ayodhya, you do not need this at all.
Stage 1: The affidavit
One small thing here that appears on no other page: the district line is written as Ayodhya (formerly Faizabad). Where a person's older documents carry one name and the affidavit carries the other, that bracket quietly connects them, and it costs nothing to include.
Stage 2: The Public Notice, in two copies
Each witness gives signature, full name and address, and both sign both copies. Neighbours are entirely acceptable.
Stage 3: The CD and CD-Certificate
Stage 4: Newspapers, fee, covering letter and dispatch
Publish in two newspapers and buy six copies
A Hindi daily and an English paper covering this district, complete original pages.
Pay Rs 1,100 on BharatKosh
Online, with two receipts printed.
Write the covering letter
To The Controller, Publication Department, Civil Line, Delhi 110054, with your mobile number and email.
Assemble, check and photocopy
A full copy set kept at home, because the file sent is never returned.
Courier it, tracked
A day or two from here to Delhi.
Then Aadhaar, and outwards from there
Everything else compares against it.
Write the Dates on a Card
Gazette Fees, Time and the File
| Adult gazette fee | Rs 1,100 |
| Minor gazette fee | Rs 1,700 |
| Affidavit | Rs 100 to 500 including stamp paper and notary |
| Newspapers | A few hundred rupees per paper |
| Courier to Delhi | A couple of hundred rupees |
| Timeline | Roughly 25 to 45 days |
| Cost of the Faizabad question | Nothing, if handled correctly |
The envelope in one line: covering letter with your phone and email, affidavit (notarised), Public Notice typed in two copies with two witnesses on each, CD in MS-Word format with the signed CD-Certificate, both complete newspaper pages, photo identity proof, address proof, photographs and the BharatKosh receipt.
Before You Start: Check These
- Is this actually about your name, or only about the district's?
- What year was the document issued, and by what body?
- Has anybody actually refused it, or are you anticipating a refusal?
- Are you about to pay for something that is not a problem?
After the Gazette: What Updates Next
Aadhaar, then PAN, then the bank, then any district record. Use the current district name on everything new, and leave every older document exactly as it is.
What Other Websites Get Wrong
- Wrong: everything became Ayodhya in 2018. Right: different layers changed in 2017, 2018, 2021 and later.
- Wrong: Faizabad no longer exists. Right: the city is still there and the constituency still carries the name.
- Wrong: a paper saying Faizabad is outdated. Right: it may be current, depending on which layer it refers to.
- Wrong: get an affidavit to explain the district name. Right: nothing is wrong, and offering one implies otherwise.
- Wrong: the gazette can settle place-name confusion. Right: the gazette concerns your name, not the map.
Areas We Serve in Uttar Pradesh
Ayodhya and its division, and the rest of the state. Most often these:
| Western UP and NCR | Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Agra, Aligarh, Mathura, Bulandshahr, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Hapur, Firozabad |
| Rohilkhand and Bundelkhand | Bareilly, Moradabad, Rampur, Shahjahanpur, Budaun, Pilibhit, Bijnor, Amroha, Jhansi, Banda, Mahoba, Chitrakoot |
| Awadh and central UP | Lucknow, Kanpur, Unnao, Raebareli, Sitapur, Hardoi, Barabanki, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sultanpur, Ayodhya, Amethi, Bahraich |
| Purvanchal and eastern UP | Varanasi, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Ballia, Deoria, Mirzapur, Basti, Ghazipur, Mau, Sonbhadra |
Within the district we work with families in Ayodhya, Faizabad city, Rudauli, Bikapur and Milkipur, and the same date question comes up across Sultanpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Barabanki, Gonda and Basti. Papers travel by photograph and courier. Our chamber is at Chamber No. 19, Sadar Tehsil, Sector 5, Gomti Nagar Vistar, Lucknow 226010, and the wider picture is on our districts page. Call 9540003316 or WhatsApp 9540005002.
Key Terms on This Page
Plain definitions for the words that come up at the counter:
- Affidavit
- A statement you swear is true, signed before a notary on stamp paper. The notary confirms you signed it, not that the contents are true.
- Notary Public
- An officer who attests that a document was signed in front of them. They verify the signature, not the facts written above it.
- Department of Publication
- The office at Civil Line, Delhi that receives name change files and publishes the notification.
- Name correction
- Fixing a name that was written wrongly by somebody else. Lighter than a change, because an older document already shows the right version.
- Name change
- Adopting a different name from the one your documents correctly record. This is the case that usually needs publication.
- DIOS
- The District Inspector of Schools, the officer a board correction is escalated to when a school will not forward it.
Related Guides on This Site
Whichever counter you reach next, there is a guide for it here:
- across UP districts: which six things are local anywhere.
- name change in Prayagraj: the single clean rename, for comparison.
- name change in Moradabad: where the district was divided instead.
- name change in Saharanpur: where a whole state was created.
- birth certificate correction: routes by body and by year.
- UP Board correction: through your own school.
- correction versus change: the question worth settling first.
- the gazette guide: for your name, not the map.
- Aadhaar name change: the update to do first.
- forty questions answered: ordered by how much the answer changes.
- contact the office: phone and WhatsApp.
Why Our Answer Here Is Usually Nothing
More enquiries from this district are about the place name than about anybody's own name, and for almost all of them the honest answer is that nothing needs doing. People have been told their certificate has become invalid because it says Faizabad, and they arrive expecting to pay for a correction. We ask for the year, explain which layer changed when, and send them away without a bill. Where somebody genuinely does want to change their own name we handle that properly, and we keep the two questions apart, because mixing them is how people end up paying for a gazette that had nothing to do with their problem. Vipin Chauhan, B.Tech LL.B, asks for the year first.
- We ask the year, then usually say nothing is wrong: without a bill.
- We keep the place name and your name separate: they are different questions.
- We write Ayodhya (formerly Faizabad) on the affidavit: which quietly connects older papers.
- We do not sell affidavits for non-problems: offering one implies something is wrong.
Associate office at Chamber No. 19, Sadar Tehsil, Sector 5, Gomti Nagar Vistar, Lucknow 226010, serving all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh including Ayodhya, Monday to Saturday, 10 AM to 6:30 PM. Call 9540003316 or WhatsApp 9540005002.
Send Us the Year on It
Uttar Pradesh Name Change
Associate Office: Chamber No. 19, Sadar Tehsil, Sector 5, Gomti Nagar Vistar, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 226010
Head Office: Metro Pillar 337, Hardev Nagar, Street 1, Shop No 1 (Shri Sham Documentation)
Call: 9540003316
WhatsApp: 9540005002
Email: info@uttarpradeshnamechange.com
Hours: Mon to Sat, 10 AM to 6:30 PM
Send the document and the year on it. If the answer is that nothing needs doing, we will tell you that, and it costs you nothing.
Get Call and Name Change Format
Loading the enquiry form...
Name Change in Ayodhya: FAQs
My certificate says Faizabad. Is it invalid?
Almost certainly not. The change happened in layers across several years, and Faizabad is still a current name for some things.
When did the district become Ayodhya?
In November 2018, along with the division.
And the municipal body?
Earlier, in 2017, when the two municipalities were merged into Ayodhya Nagar Nigam.
What about the railway station?
Later, in 2021, when Faizabad Junction became Ayodhya Cantt, and the cantonment was renamed after that.
Does Faizabad still exist?
Yes. It is still a city, about seven kilometres from Ayodhya, and the parliamentary constituency still carries the name.
So a 2019 document could say either?
Yes, depending on what issued it and which layer that body belonged to. Both would be correct.
Should I get an affidavit to explain it?
No. Nothing is wrong, and offering an affidavit implies something is.
What if a counter still queries it?
Say the year first. The date explains the name faster than any argument, and staff are adjusting to this too.
Should I get my old certificates reissued?
No. Records are not reissued because a name changed, and they describe what was true when they were made.
Which name do I use on new forms?
The current one, which for the district is Ayodhya.
Can the gazette settle this?
No. The gazette concerns your own name, not the district's, and the two should be kept apart.
Who registers births here?
Ayodhya Nagar Nigam for the municipal area, with Palikas, Panchayats and gram panchayats covering the rest of the district.
Official Sources
- District administration Ayodhya at ayodhya.nic.in, for tehsils, local bodies and services.
- Ayodhya Nagar Nigam, as registrar of births and deaths for the municipal area.
- Uttar Pradesh government notifications of November 2018 renaming the district and division.
- Department of Publication, Civil Line, Delhi 110054, for Central Gazette notification.
Facts here are checked against these sources and our own casework in the Ayodhya division. Naming and administrative arrangements have been revised more than once here, so confirm locally if anything looks different at a counter.
The Short Version
Most renamings are a single event, and this one was not. The municipal side became Ayodhya Nagar Nigam in 2017 when the two municipalities were merged, the district and the division were renamed in November 2018, the railway station became Ayodhya Cantt in 2021, and the cantonment changed after that. Four dates, four different things, spread across several years, which means there is no single moment before which everything said Faizabad and after which everything said Ayodhya. A document from 2019 might carry either name depending on what issued it, and both would be correct. On top of that, Faizabad did not disappear the way Allahabad did. It is still a city about seven kilometres from Ayodhya, and the parliamentary constituency is still called Faizabad. So a paper carrying that name is not, by itself, a problem. Read the year and the issuing body, and then in almost every case do nothing at all.