Photo of Seer From Haryana Falsely Shared as Yogi Covered in Snow in Himalayas

The seer seen in the photo is Bhale Giriji Maharaj from Haryana who performs a ritual around fire.

The claim states that the seer covered in snow is seen meditating in the Himalayas. 

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Several social media users are sharing a photo of a what seems like a seer sitting and meditating with the claim that it shows a yogi (seer) covered in snow and meditating in the Himalayas.

However, we found that the claim is false. The man seen in the photo is a seer named Baba Sarbangi also known as Bhale Giriji Maharaj from Rindhana village in Haryana. In the photo he is seen covered in ashes and performing 'Agni tapasya', a form of prayer in Hindu religion where one meditates around fire.

CLAIM

The photo of the seer sitting and meditating is being shared along with the caption that reads, "An ice clad Yogi in Himalayas. Hail Sanatan (Dharma)."

The photo has over 4,000 likes on Twitter at the time of writing this article.

An archive of the tweet can be found here. 

(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

Archived links of more claims can be accessed here, here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND

We conducted a reverse image search on the photo and found the photo in a Facebook post that identified him as '1008 Mahant Baba Bhale Giri Ji Maharaj'.

We found the photo in the account of 'Baba Sarbangi' who is also known as 'Mahant Bhalegiri ji Maharaj'.

Screengrab from 'Baba Sarbangi' Facebook account. 

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

While scrolling through his photos on his profile, we also found the same photo posted on 18 June 2019. More photos of the seer sitting in the same position can be seen here, here and here.

In the photographs, the seer was seen convered in what seems to be ashes and not snow, as claimed in the viral posts.

Screengrab from 'Baba Sarbangi' Facebook account. 

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

Next, we looked for videos about the seer and found a YouTube channel named 'Baba Sarbangi vlog'. We found several videos of the seer performing the 'Agni Tapasya'.

In a video from 24 June 2018, he can be seen sitting inside a ring with fire lit inside heaps of cowdung and people can be seen circling around the ring.

More videos of his rituals can be seen here and here. One video mentioned the location as Sheetla temple in Rindhana, Haryana and seer Giriji can also be seen in it.

In one video, some men can be seen throwing what seems like ashes to his body before he starts to meditate inside the ring.

Further, we also looked for news reports about the seer and found one story in Dainik Jagran from 12 March 2018. In the report, which said that devotees flocked to the Goddess Sheetla temple at Rindhana village in Sonipat district of Haryana. Devotees also took the blessings of the temple's chief priest Bhale Giriji Maharaj, the report read.

Screengrab from Dainik Jagran.

(Source: Dainik Jagran/Screenshot)

Clearly, an edited image claiming that a seer covered in snow was meditating in the Himalayas is being shared on social media.

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