Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
Claim
Rare footage of Swami Vivekananda.
Such posts can be seen here, here, here, here, here and here.
Also Read: No, This Image Does Not Show Swamy Vivekananda Playing Cricket For Calcutta Town Club In 1884
Fact
We looked up the keyframes of the viral footage on Google lens, which yielded a YouTube video by Universal Yogodans, dated November 5, 2016. It carried a longer version of the viral clip to show “Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda ji, during his early years in America.”
The video was also shared on a Facebook page dedicated to Swami Paramahansa Yogananda on March 6, 2023 with the caption, “Yogananda in New York… this original video footage of Swami Yogananda visiting New York in 1923. “
The post added that the video was offered in “collaboration with the University of South Carolina.” Further, we also spotted a watermark of “mirc@sc.edu” on the viral clip, referring to Moving Image Research Collections, South Carolina University.
Taking a clue, we looked up “Swami Yogananda” on the official website of the University of South Carolina. This led us to a 48-second-long video uploaded in the digital collection section of the website, titled ‘Swami Yogananda of India–outtakes.’
Around 34 seconds into the video, we spotted the viral footage shared as “rare video of Swami Vivekananda.”
The description of the video read, “The Swami and his party walking along Pershing Square in New York, possibly during a 1923 visit to the city.”
Result: False
Sources
YouTube Video By Universal Yogodans, Dated November 5, 2016
Facebook Post By @yogananda, Dated March 6, 2023
Official Website Of University of South Carolina
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Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
