[5][6][7] The name Awadh is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city, which is regarded as the homeland of the Hindu deity Rama, the earthly avatar of Vishnu.

Along with Braj, it was used widely as a literary vehicle before gradually merging and contributing to the development of standardized Hindi ( Khadi Boli ) in the 19th century.

Though distinct from standard Hindi, it continues to be spoken today in its unique form in many districts of central Uttar Pradesh.

[6] Awadhi is predominantly spoken in the Awadh region encompassing central Uttar Pradesh, along with the lower part of the Ganga-Yamuna doab.

[6][12] In the west, it is bounded by Western Hindi, specifically Kannauji and Bundeli, while in the east, Bhojpuri from the Bihari group of Eastern Indo-Aryan languages is spoken.

[17] Caribbean Hindustani spoken by Indians in Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana is based on Bhojpuri and partly on Awadhi.

[23] Mahatma Gandhi had acclaimed the Ramcharitmanas as "the greatest book of all devotional literature" while western observers have christened it as "the Bible of Northern India".

सिंधु तीर एक भूधर सुंदर। कौतुक कूदि चढ़ेउ ता-ऊपर॥ बार-बार रघुबीर सँभारी। तरकेउ पवनतनय बल भारी॥ On the sea-shore there was a mountain lovely, He hopped to its peak sportively; Over and again, the Lord he did recall And the Son of Wind darted with energy no small.

The first Hindi vernacular adaptation of the 'Dasam Skandha' of the Bhagavata Purana, the "Haricharit" by Lalachdas, who hailed from Hastigram (present-day Hathgaon near Rae Bareilly), was concluded in 1530 C.E.

It circulated widely for a long time and scores of manuscript copies of the text have been found as far as eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Malwa and Gujarat, all written in the Kaithi script.

Awadhi appeared as a major component in the works of Bhakti saints like Kabir, who used a language often described as being a pancmel khicṛī or "a hotch-potch" of several vernaculars.

Doha: They sat there doing tapas, all those human avataras.They crossed this world doing homa and japa day and night.The Awadhi romance Mirigāvatī (ca.1503) or "The Magic Doe", was written by Shaikh 'Qutban' Suhravardi, who was an expert and storyteller attached to the court-in-exile of Sultan Hussain Shah Sharqi of Jaunpur.

In 2022 Dr. Vidya Vindu Singh has been awarded Padma Shri for her contribution in Awadhi literature.Awadhi possesses both voiced and voiceless vowels.

The gender is rigorously maintained in Western Hindi, Awadhi is a little loose yet largely preserved, while Bihari is highly attenuated.

[54] In the television series Yudh, Amitabh Bachchan spoke parts of his dialogue in Awadhi, which received critical acclaim from the Hindustan Times.

[55] Awadhi is also spoken by the residents of Ayodhya and other minor characters in Ramanand Sagar's 1987 television series Ramayan.

The lyrics of the song "Rang Barse Bhige Chunar Wali", from the movie Silsila starring Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha, are in Awadhi dialect.

The 1982 movie Nadiya Ke Paar was in Awadhi (the 1994 remake by the same director, Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, was in Hindi.

)[57] The genres of folklore sung in Awadh include Sariya, Byaah, Suhag, Gaari, Nakta, Banraa (Banna-Banni), Alha, Sawan, Jhula, Hori and Barahmasa.