Authors
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Ruby leads editorial, operations and initiatives at Newschecker. In her former avatar at New Delhi Television (NDTV), India’s leading national news network, she was a news anchor, supervising producer and senior output editor. Her over a decade-long career encompasses ground-breaking reportage from conflict zones and reporting on terror incidents, election campaigns, and gender issues. Ruby is an Emmy-nominated producer and has handled both local and international assignments, including the coverage of Arab Spring in 2011, the US Presidential elections in 2016, and ground reportage on the Kashmir issue since 2009.
Claim
Interior decoration of Ayodhya Ram Mandir
Fact
Upon careful examination of the viral video, we observed a watermark reading ‘Nagpur Experience’ and the YouTube logo the viral video, indicating that it was first uploaded on the video sharing platform.
To ascertain its source, we conducted a keyword search on YouTube using the same terms, ‘Nagpur Experience’ and ‘Ramayan’, yielding several results. Among them, we identified a longer video, featuring the same viral footage, originally uploaded on July 8, 2023. The descriptionm mentioned below the video revealed that it was filmed at the Koradi Ram Mandir in Nagpur.
Another keyword search on YouTube, this time including ‘Koradi Ram temple’, led us to the same viral video uploaded as a YouTube shorts video by the same channel.
The description again confirmed that the video was shot at the Koradi Ram temple in Nagpur.
Further research on Google led us to several reports established that the Koradi temple is a famous Mahalaxmi temple in Maharashtra’s Nagpur. We discovered that Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, an organisation working towards spreading Indian culture and traditions, opened a Sanskritik Kendra (Cultural Centre) at Koradi in Nagpur. The video in question was filmed within the Ramayan Darshan Hall in this Sanskritik Kendra.
The Sanskritik Kendra has two floors, each spanning 14,760 square feet. The first floor, known as the ‘Ramayana Darshanam Hall,’ has 120 spectacular paintings depicting significant episodes from the Tulsi Ramayana and Valmiki Ramayana. The panels beautifully showcase the life of Lord Rama from his birth to his coronation and also highlight its influence in India and abroad. These are the visuals featured in the viral video.
We also found new reports carrying images of the Sanskritik kendra, which are identical to the frames seen in the viral image.
Result: False
Sources
Report published on Nagpur Today on July 5, 2023
YouTube video uploaded by Nagpur Experience on July 8, 2023
Website of the Sanskritik Kendra, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Nagpur
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Authors
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Ruby leads editorial, operations and initiatives at Newschecker. In her former avatar at New Delhi Television (NDTV), India’s leading national news network, she was a news anchor, supervising producer and senior output editor. Her over a decade-long career encompasses ground-breaking reportage from conflict zones and reporting on terror incidents, election campaigns, and gender issues. Ruby is an Emmy-nominated producer and has handled both local and international assignments, including the coverage of Arab Spring in 2011, the US Presidential elections in 2016, and ground reportage on the Kashmir issue since 2009.
