Fact Check: Viral video on Taj Mahal’s construction is AI generated

It is a known fact that among other historic sites in India, the Taj Mahal is the favorite of many. The Taj Mahal is one among the New Seven Wonders of the World. It is an ivory-white mausoleum on the south bank of River Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1632 by Emperor Shah Jahan in remembrance of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. The construction of the Taj Mahal was almost completed in 1653 with an estimated cost of 32 million rupees. The construction is said to have employed 20,000 artisans working with the guidance of architects.

Meanwhile, a video is going viral on social media with the claim that it is a documentary of the construction of the Taj Mahal. Some YouTube users shared this video with captions like “ताजमहल।कहानी ताजमहल बनने की”. The story of the Construction of the Taj Mahal.”

The screenshot of the claim can be seen here.

Fact Check:

The claim is False. The video is AI-generated, not real. When we searched the extracted keyframes from the video, we found that the video was shared by several mainstream media, on their social media, stating that the video is AI-generated.

According to the reports, the construction of the Taj Mahal took 22 years to complete. But the AI visualized the construction in just 54 seconds, where thousands of workers worked day and night. Looking at the video, we can understand how difficult it was to construct such a marvel in the olden days.

Upon further search, we found the video posted on an Instagram account on November 3, 2024, with the caption ‘AI generated video of Taj Mahal construction in Agra city’. When we checked the comments on this post, we could see that the user commented that he created the video using AI by giving the commands.

But, we then found another Instagram post shared by an Instagram user named Jayprints. The video was shared on October 27, 2024, with the caption ‘When love shapes stone. Shah Jahan’s vision and the hands of thousands came together to create the Taj Mahal—a symbol of love and loss. The construction process saw stones from distant lands, a riverfront site, and years of planning to create a mausoleum that continues to inspire awe. From the banks of the River Yamuna, over 20,000 artisans and more than 1,000 elephants worked tirelessly to create this masterpiece. The Taj Mahal took 22 years to complete, but its beauty has lasted centuries. Crafted with love by @jayprints ’

When we checked the bio of this user, we found that he is an AI artist and shared several other AI-generated images and videos on his Instagram account. Therefore, the video in circulation has been created using AI technology. It is not a real documentation. The claim is False.