The sculpture of a giant human skeleton by an Italian artist is falsely shared as the skeleton of Ghatotkacha - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 2, 2021
A photo of a giant skeleton is being widely shared on social media claiming it as an 80-feet skeleton of Ghatotkacha, son of Bhima according to Mahabharata. The post claims that the skeleton was found near Kurukshetra. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photo of 80 feet giant skeleton of Ghatotkacha, found near Kurukshetra.
Fact: The photo is the sculpture of a human skeleton created by Italian artist Gino de Dominicis, taken in 2007. This giant skeleton is named Calamita Cosmica (or Cosmic Magnet in English) and is now exhibited at the ancient church of the Holy Trinity which is part of the Museum of Italian Contemporary Art Centre of Foligno (CIAC). Ghatotkacha is a prominent character described in the ancient Indian epic of Mahabharata. There are no news reports of a 80 feet giant Ghatotkacha skeleton being found near Kurukshetra. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When reverse image search is done on the photo, the same image was found in a Flickr account. The image was taken on 08 April 2007, with the title ‘Calamita Cosmica’. A hyperlink to the Wikipedia page of Gino de Dominicis was given in the description of the image.
Taking a cue from the description given in the Flickr account, we searched in Google using relevant keywords. A couple of articles (here and here) were found with similar images of giant skeletons. According to the articles, this giant skeleton is named ‘Calamita Cosmica’ (or Cosmic Magnet in English) and was created by Italian artist Gino de Dominicis. The Cosmic Magnet is made of fiberglass, iron, and polystyrene.
The Cosmic Magnet is exhibited at the ancient church of the Holy Trinity which is part of the Museum of Italian Contemporary Art Centre of Foligno (CIAC).
Ghatotkacha is a prominent character described in the ancient Indian epic of Mahabharata. Ghatotkacha is said to be killed in the battle of Kurukshetra, which took place between Kauravas and Pandavas for the throne of Hastinapura. Ghatotkacha was the son of the Pandava, Bhima. There are no news reports of 80 feet giant Ghatotkacha skeleton being found near Kurukshetra.
FACTLY had earlier debunked a similar post about an 80 feet skeleton but with a different image.
To sum it up, the sculpture of a giant human skeleton by an Italian artist is falsely shared as the skeleton of Ghatotkacha.