A video of a huge crowd carrying saffron flags on the streets is being shared on the internet with users claiming that it shows Ram Navami celebrations in Bihar's Purnea.
(More archives to similar claims can be found here, here, and here.) Some users have also claimed that the video is from Rajasthan (archive here).
Are these claims true?: No, neither the video is recent nor is it from Bihar. The viral clip could be traced back to at least December 2021 and is from Karnataka's Chikkamagaluru area.
What led us to the truth?: At first, we noticed shop signs that appeared to be written in Kannada.
Taking signs like "Great Brands" and "IDBI Bank" as reference, we performed a keyword search which indicated that these shops are from MG Road, Chikkamagaluru in Karnataka.
Using the street view option of Google Maps, we could geolocate the place where the video was shot.
We found several similarities in comparing visuals from the viral video and the street view.
(Swipe right to view all comparisons.)
A comparison between both the images clearly shows the similarities.
(Source: Google Maps/Screenshot/Altered by The Quint)
Further, we found the same video uploaded on an unverified YouTube channel named 'SGS kannada vlogs'.
The video was uploaded on 19 December 2021 and was titled, "MG Road chikmagalur shobhayatre | datta jayanti 2021."
Datta Jayanti: It is a festival celebrated to commemorate the birth of Lord Datta or Dattatreya, who is regarded as an embodiment of all three Gods - Bhrama, Vishnu, and Mahesh, according to Hindu scriptures. Some clips of the festive celebrations can be seen here and here.
Conclusion: While we could not independently verify the date and context of the video, it is clear that it is old and was taken in Karnataka.
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