No, Ramayana Stamps Weren’t Issued Ahead of Bhumi Pujan in Ayodhya
This is indeed a set of Ramayana-themed stamps, but we found that they had been released in 2017.
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A photo containing multiple pictorial representations of episodes from the epic Ramayana is being shared heavily on social media as ‘Ramayana stamps released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today’. However, while they are indeed a set of Ramayana-themed stamps, we found that they had been released in 2017 and are not recent.
The claim is viral ahead of the bhumi pujan of the upcoming Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on 5 August.
CLAIM
We found many people on Twitter sharing the above photo with the message: “New stamps released by the PM today. Jai Shri Ram”.
We found that the message was viral on Twitter.
We also found the same claim being shared on Facebook.
WHAT WE FOUND
On running a keyword search, we came across a blog which carried the viral photo and said that India Post had created the stamps, which had been released by PM Narendra Modi in Varanasi in September 2017.
Taking off from this, we ran a search for India Post having released such stamps and came across the India Postage Stamps website, which said that India Post had indeed issued such a set of 11 commemorative postage stamps on 22 September 2017.
It also stated that 10 stamps were of the denominations Rs 5, while one stamp was of the denomination Rs 15. It also carried photos of these stamps. This matches with the denominations of stamps seen in the viral photo as well.
Further, we came across a news report by NDTV from September 2017, which confirmed that PM Modi had released a postage stamp on different aspects of Lord Ram's life at the historic Tulsi Manas Mandir in Varanasi on 22 September.
We also found a tweet by PM Modi on the same date, with a photo of the same, as well as a tweet by ANI which had a closeup of the stamps.
Therefore, it is clear that a set of Ramayana stamps released in September 2017 is being shared now with the false claim that it has been released recently by PM Modi.
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