Video From Rajasthan Temple Falsely Shared as Donation Received at Ram Temple

This video is of the Sanwariya Seth Temple in Rajasthan and not Ayodhya.

Fact-Check: This video is from Rajasthan and not Ayodhya. 

(Source: Altered by The Quint) 

A video showing a few people collecting cash notes from what looks like a temple donation box is being shared on social media platforms.

• Users have claimed that the clip is from the newly inaugurated Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

• It also says that a substanial amount was donated within half a day of its opening.

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: X/Screenshot) 

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is this true?: The claim is false.

• The video is from the Sanwaliya Seth Temple in Rajasthan. We could trace the video to 16 January which is before the inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

How did we find out?: We divided the viral video into multiple keyframes and ran a Google reverse image search on some of them.

• We came across a post on Instagram by an account named @sanwaliya_seth_1007 from 16 January with the caption, "This time a record amount of 12 crore 69 lakh cash donations came out." (translated from Hindi to English)

• We compared both the videos and found similarities.

Here are the similarities between the two. 

(Source: Altered by The Quint) 

• With a relevant keyword search, we came across a news report by ABP News from 16 January which matches the time when the video was uploaded on Instagram.

• It mentioned about the calculation of donations in the boxes at the Sanwariya Temple.

• It noted, "The calculation of Bhandara of Sanwaliya Seth Temple located in Chittorgarh has been completed. This time the counting of Bhandara of this temple, which opens every month, lasted for 6 days. In which silver and gold worth crores have been recovered”.

• The report also mentioned that on the last day, ₹3,17,305 were calculated by counting coins and some remaining notes. 

Donations Received at Ram Temple: According to an India Today report, devotees contributed a total of Rs 3.17 crore through cash offerings at the temple counters and online donations.

• After the ceremony on 22 January, ten donation boxes were opened at the temple.

Conclusion: Clearly, the video is being falsely shared as one from Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The clip is from Rajasthan.

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