A video (here and here) of a cross on a Church’s steeple getting replaced by a Hindu religious symbol is being shared on social media, claiming that this video shows the visuals of a church in Europe getting renovated into a temple. In this video, one can see devotees worshipping inside this temple, offering prayers to the deity. Let’s fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: Visuals show a European church transformed into a Hindu temple.
Fact: Although this video shows a Church renovated into a temple, this had not happened in Europe. The visuals show the Paranitya Narasimha Ashram and temple in West Elmira, New York. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
A keyword search on the internet led us to a news report that revealed that the church/temple that is seen in the viral video is located in a town called Elmira in New York.
Reportedly, this is the largest temple of (Paranitya) Narasimha in America. An organisation named Bhakti Marga (here) has purchased a closed catholic church in Elmira and renovated it into an ashram and temple.
The inauguration of this temple was held from 31 August 2023 to 3 September 2023 (here, here, and here), and the viral video shows the highlights of this event, which was posted on Instagram by Bhakti Marga.
To sum up, the viral post misquotes this video as visuals from Europe while it shows the inauguration of Lord Narasimha temple (converted from a church) in America.
