Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Claim
Image of Lord Ram projected onto Burj Khalifa on occasion of Ram Navami
Fact
There was no light show to mark Ram Navami, stock photo was digitally altered
A photo, purportedly showing Lord Ram’s image being displayed on Dubai’s iconic Burj Khalifa, is doing the rounds of social media. Users claim that the light show was done to mark Ram Navami, which was on March 30, 2023.
Burj Khalifa is known for hosting daily light shows as well as special shows on occasions such as New Year’s and National Days on one side of its facade (facing Burj Lake in Downtown Dubai). According to a Gulf News report, a media file of the show plays on a laptop connected to a “main brain” server, which, through a network of fibre optics and smaller brains, tells tiny LED lights on the facade to display a particular colour.
The archived versions of the tweets can be seen here and here.
Also read: No, This Video Does Not Show Historic Turnout For Ram Navami Procession In Bihar
Fact check
Newschecker first ran a keyword search for “Ram Navami Burj Khalifa”, which did not throw up any credible news reports of a light show to mark Ram Navami.
We then ran a reverse image search of the viral photo, which led us to this stock photo of Burj Khalifa uploaded on iStock on February 3, 2016. A comparison of both images reveals that the stock photo was edited to make it look like an image of Lord Ram was projected onto the skyscraper. A similar stock photo can be seen here.
Newschecker also reached out to Burj Khalifa officials for comments and will update this article once we get a response.
Conclusion
A stock photo of Burj Khalifa was digitally altered to make it look like an image of Lord Ram was projected onto the skyscraper on the occasion of Ram Navami.
Result: Altered image
Sources
Image analysis
iStock photo
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
