A post featuring a video of a few people pushing to open a large grand door of a temple is widely circulating across social media platforms, claiming that the video depicts visuals of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir. In this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video showing visuals of Ayodhya Ram Mandir.
Fact: The viral video does not depict the visuals of Ayodhya Ram Mandir. Instead, it shows the visuals of Vasavi Rushigotra Suvarna Mandiram located in Penugonda, West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. Furthermore, the large idol in this temple is of the goddess ‘Vasavi Kanyaka Parameshwari. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
To authenticate the viral video, we performed a Google reverse image search on the internet using the keyframes from the video. This search directed us to a Facebook video (Archive link) titled “Penugonda Vasavamba Darshanam,” uploaded on 14 May 2019 by ‘Vasavi Shanthi Dham Penugonda’, which displays visuals resembling the door of the temple depicted in the viral video.
Taking a cue from this, we conducted an internet search using relevant keywords to gather more information about this temple. This search led us to a news report by Business Standard. According to the report, the temple named Vasavi Rushigotra Suvarna Mandiram is situated in the Penugonda area of the West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh and was inaugurated on 15 February 2019. It boasts a 90-feet-tall statue of Vasavi Devi made of 65,000 kg alloy. Additionally, the news agency ANI (Archive link) reported on the inauguration of this temple and uploaded a news report video on 16 February 2019.
Subsequently, we have also located the temple on Google Maps and found a few images of the temple. By comparing these images with the visuals of the viral video, it becomes clear that this video depicts scenes of a temple in West Godavari, Andhra Pradesh. Moreover, the huge idol installed in this temple is of the goddess ‘Vasavi Kanyaka Parameshwari’.
To sum it up, video of a temple in Andhra Pradesh is being falsely shared as visuals of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir.
