Fact-Check: Photo Shows Sringar Chauri Temple in Chittor and Not a Mosque

The image shows Sringar Chauri, an old temple located at Chittorgarh fort in Rajasthan.

Fact-check: The claim states that a temple shown in the visual was converted into a mosque. 

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Amid mosques and monuments like the Taj Mahal and the Qutub Minar being put under cultural and communal scan, a photo showing a structure with a dome on top, is being shared on social media with a claim that a temple was converted into a mosque by the Mughals.

However, the image shows a temple named Sringar Chauri, which is situated within Chittorgarh Fort in Rajasthan.

CLAIM

The viral post is being shared with a caption that says, "Stunningly beautiful walls...with an ugly looking dome ! This is an old Hindu temple in Chittor converted into a mosque by Mughals ... Will any Historian highlight this ???? #GyanvapiMosque #TajMahalControversy (sic)."

An archive of the post can be seen here.

(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

Similar posts can be seen here, here, and here. The same claim was viral in 2021 as well.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

On conducting a reverse image search of the image on Google, we came across a similar picture uploaded by a photo stock website, Alamy.

The image titled 'Old Temple ruins. Rattan Singh Palace. Chittorgarh Fort. India' was taken on 25 February 2009.

We noticed similarities between the viral image and the Alamy image of the old temple.

Old temple ruins at Chittorgarh Fort, Rajasthan. 

(Source: Altered by The Quint)

Next, taking a cue from the title, we conducted a keyword search on Google and found an image from a media repository Wikimedia Commons.

The image was titled 'Shringar Chauri'.

Sringar Chauri at Chittorgarh fort. 

(Source: Wikimedia Commons/ Screenshot)

The Quint also found images of Sringar Chauri, an old temple, on the official website of Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) which shows the same temple with a dome structure on its top.

Sringar Chauri image gallery on IGNCA website.

(Source: IGNCA/Screenshot)

The site also carries a video which shows the Sringar Chauri temple at Rajasthan.

Evidently, the viral posts do not show a mosque but Sringar Chauri, an old temple located in Rajasthan.

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