A set of videos (here & here) showing donation boxes (Hundi) in temples are widely shared across social media platforms, with the claim that these visuals are from Ayodhya Ram Mandir. Through this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: These viral videos depict the visuals of donation boxes in Ayodhya Ram Mandir.
Fact: These viral videos surfaced on the internet well before the opening of Ayodhya Ram Mandir on 22 January 2024. According to reports, one video was recorded at Sree Guruvayurappan Temple in Kerala in September 2022, and the other video was captured at Rajasthan’s Sanwariya Seth temple in September 2023. These viral videos have no connection to Ayodhya Ram Mandir. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Video-1:
To learn more about the viral clip, we performed a reverse image search on the internet using a few of its keyframes, which led us to a video with similar visuals in an article published by ‘Kalayanthanikazhchakal’ news website on 29 September 2022. This news website reported it as the visuals of priests collecting money from the Bhandara or the donation boxes of the Sree Guruvayurappan temple in Kerala. Reporting the same, a few other news websites and Facebook pages published the same video. They can be seen here, here, and here. Based on this information, it is evident that the viral video is associated with the Sree Guruvayurappan Temple in Kerala.
Video-2:
Performing a reverse image search on the internet using keyframes from the viral video led us to several social media posts (here, here & here) featuring the same video, uploaded in September 2023. According to these posts, the video originated from Rajasthan’s Shri Sanwalia Mandir, where a woman allegedly donated Rs 10 lakh in cash.
Taking a cue from these posts, we searched for further sources on the internet. This led us to a photo showing similar visuals of woman contributing money into a donation box in an article published by Asianetnews on 11 September 2023. According to this article, the video was shot at the Shri Sanwalia Seth Prakatya Mandir in the Chittorgarh district of Rajasthan. The woman in the video reportedly donated Rs 10 lakh on Janmashtami, celebrated on 07 September 2023.
Based on this information, it is clear that the viral video does not pertain to Ayodhya Ram Mandir; instead, it is from a temple in Rajasthan. Factly previously debunked similar claim related to donation box( Hundi) in Ayodhya Ram Mandir can be seen here.
To sum it up, unrelated videos of donation boxes are being shared, falsely claiming that they depict the donation boxes of Ayodhya Ram Mandir.
