In the context of Navaratri which is being celebrated all over India, a video of a huge Durga Pandal is being widely shared on social media claiming that it shows the Durga pandal setup near Lalit bus stand in Bihar’s Siwan.
Claim: Visuals of Durga Pandal setup near Lalit bus stand in Bihar’s Siwan.
Fact: Visuals show Durga Pandal built at Bihar’s Gopalganj in 2018 and not the Durga pandal at Siwan. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
We searched for the visuals of Durga Pandal at Lalit bus stand and found it to be completely different from visuals shown viral video.
We then searched using the words “राजा दल”, visible at the entrance of the Pandal in the viral video. This led us to the 4-year-old video of Durga Pandal located in Gopalganj, Bihar. Upon comparing it with the viral video, we can conclude that the Pandal shown in the video is situated in Gopalganj city of Bihar and not in Siwan. Siwan and Gopalganj are cities in Bihar which are 34 km apart from each other. Other videos of Gopalganj pandal in 2018 can be seen here and here.
Talking to local media in September 2022, a member of Raja Dal said that this year Durga Pandal is being built in the lines of Kolkata’s Birla Mandir with a Cost of around ₹55 Lakh.
To sum it up, old visuals of Durga Pandal in Gopalganj are shared as latest visuals of pandal in Siwan.
