Claim
Man walks from Switzerland to Prayagraj to participate in Mahakumbh.
Fact
Video from 2021 shared out of context.
A video purportedly showing a saffron-clad man from Switzerland speaking in fluent Hindi, and reciting Hindu’s religious verse has gone viral on social media platforms, with multiple users linking it to the ongoing Mahakumbh Mela in Prayagraj.
In the four-minute-and-second-long video, the man claims that he walked for 4 years, and crossed 18 countries to reach India from Switzerland, and praises Indian “shastras.”
Multiple X and Facebook users shared the video claiming that the man walked from Switzerland to Prayagraj to witness Mahakumbh.
Such posts can be seen here, here, here and here.
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Fact Check/Verification
On carefully analysing the viral clip, we heard the interviewer mentioning “Haridwar” multiple times in the conversation. A text overlay stating “dwar Kumbh 2021” is also faintly visible around 3:50 minutes in the video.
Taking a clue, we looked up keywords “Haridwar Kumbh 2021” and “Switzerland” on YouTube which led us to a video by Gautam Khattar, dated March 22, 2021. In the beginning video, the anchor said that he was in Haridwar and introduced the monk as “Ben Baba” from Switzerland.
Around 6:56 minutes in the video, we spotted the viral footage of the monk, where he calls walking his “tapasya” (penances), and says that he travelled on foot for four years to reach India from Switzerland. He also adds that he has been walking across India for one year.
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Subsequent investigation led us to the YouTube channel of Ben Viatte, popularly known as ‘Ben Baba from Switzerland,’ listing multiple videos from his walk to India. One such video, dated May 9, 2020, titled ‘To India on Foot – The Goal,’ shows him entering the country.
Viatte’s journey was also detailed in his website called “The Hermit Crab” which stated that he reached India in 2020. “Dharamshala has been the intended destination of my 4-year walk since day 1,” he says on the website. An update from February 2021 states that the monk was going to Haridwar for Kumbh Mela after “6 months of sedentary life in the town of Dharamshala”
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Conclusion
Hence, an old video interview of a man has been shared out of context to claim that he walked from Switzerland to Prayagraj to witness Mahakumbh Mela.
Result: Partly False
Sources
YouTube Video By Gautam Khattar, Dated March 22, 2021
YouTube Video By Ben Viatte, Dated May 9, 2020
The Hermit Crab Website
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