A video going viral on social media (here, here, and here) shows women seated at a dining table with food being served. The women can be seen wearing tilak on their foreheads and saffron scarves tied on their heads. The post is being shared claiming that meat is being served to all devotees at the pandal. Let’s verify the truth behind the video in this article.
Claim: A video shows meat being served to devotees at the pandal.
Fact: The viral video is from a wedding, not a pandal, and all the women in the video are guests, not devotees who were being served meat. The video was filmed by Anil Khanna at a wedding in Tehri Garhwal, Jaunpur, Uttarakhand, who confirmed that the video shows a wedding ritual, not a pandal with devotees. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
A reverse image search of the keyframes from the viral video led us to an Instagram post (archived) dated 03 December 2024, featuring the same video. The caption revealed that the video is from a wedding.
The person who posted the video was identified as Anil Khanna through his Instagram bio, which also included a link to his YouTube channel. Upon reviewing his YouTube channel, we found an extended version (archived) of the viral video uploaded on 04 December 2024, titled Rahini Jimai Marriage Ceremony Tikri Village || Pahadi Wedding || Pahadi Marriage Jaunpur Uttarakhand.
We observed that the same women appear in both the viral video and the extended version uploaded on YouTube. A comparison can be seen below.
To learn more about the Rahini Jimai Marriage Ceremony, we searched online but found no credible sources. We then contacted Anil Khanna, who confirmed that the viral video was of a wedding in Tehri Garhwal, Jaunpur, Uttarakhand. He explained that serving food to women before the elder son’s marriage is a Pahadi tradition, where women are honoured with gifts, tilak, and food. He also mentioned that meat is common in their hilly region. Anil also confirmed that he filmed the video himself and uploaded it on Instagram and YouTube, titling it as part of the “Rahini Jimai Wedding Ceremony.” He clarified that the video shows a wedding, not a pandal with devotees.
To sum up, the video of women being served meat is from a wedding in Uttarakhand, not a pandal with devotees.
