By Srijit Das
A video showing a huge crowd gathered around a structure that closely resembles the Ram Temple of Ayodhya is being shared online with a false claim that it shows visuals from the yet-to-be-inaugurated Ram Temple.
BOOM found that the video is from a Durga Puja pandal of Kolkata, West Bengal which replicated the Ayodhya Ram Temple. We spoke to Sajal Ghosh, the club secretary of Santosh Mitra Square Puja Committee in North Kolkata, who confirmed that the visuals show the Ram temple-themed Durga Puja pandal that was organised by their committee this year.
The grand opening of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is scheduled for January 22, 2024, as declared by the Sri Ram Janmbhoomi Trust. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also confirmed his presence at the inauguration ceremony via an X post.
The Hindi caption with the video translates to, "Electrical work completed in Ayodhya Ram temple. Amazing scintillation. Jai Shri Ram".
(Original Text in Hindi: अयोध्या राम मंदिर में विद्युत कार्य पूर्ण… अलौकिक जगमगाहट… जय श्री राम)
Click here to view the post.
BOOM also received the same video on its WhatsApp tipline number (7700906588) with a request for verification.
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Fact Check
BOOM conducted a keyword search in Bengali and found numerous posts by Facebook users sharing similar videos, indicating they were from a Durga Puja pandal built by Santosh Mitra Square in north Kolkata.
We also found that a Facebook user posted a video of the Durga Puja pandal from an angle that matches with the visuals seen in the viral video. In both the videos, the same light display to form a figure of Lord Ram, along with the temple-like structure in the background.
Click here to view the post. The comparison can be seen below.
News outlets including The Times Of India, The Hindu published reports covering the Kolkata Durga Puja pandal which was inaugurated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
A report by Outlook India carried several pictures of the Durga Puja pandal on October 24, 2023, stating, "In this year's Durga Puja celebrations, Kolkata’s biggest hit was a political project – an imposing replica of the Ram Temple of Ayodhya as the pandal of Santosh Mitra Square in north Kolkata, where Jai Shree Ram rented the air. Replicas of famous structures and architecture are common in West Bengal’s Durga puja pandals, more so in Kolkata."
For further verification, we reached out to BJP leader Sajal Ghosh, who also serves as the club secretary of Santosh Mitra Square Puja Committee, regarding the viral video. Ghosh confirmed that the video is from Kolkata and displays the Durga Puja pandal at Santosh Mitra Square. Ghosh told BOOM, "Yes, the video is from this year's Durga Puja pandal at Santosh Mitra Square in Kolkata".
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