Fact Check: Hindu sage walking in New York streets is not Swami Vivekananda but Paramahansa Yogananda
A video of a Hindu sage walking down a street with high-rise buildings is going viral with the claim that it is a rare video of Swami Vivekananda.
A video of a Hindu sage walking down a street with high-rise buildings is going viral with the claim that it is a rare video of Swami Vivekananda.
The video is being shared with a narrative in Telugu: “శ్రీ వివేకానంద స్వామి ని చూసి నందుకు ధన్యునయ్యాను. భారతదేశ ఖ్యాతిని హిందూ ధర్మం యొక్క విశిష్టతను ఖండ ఖండంతరాలు తెలియజేసిన మహోన్నతమైన వ్యక్తిత్వం కలిగిన స్వామి వివేకానంద కి నా పాడాభి వందనాలు
ఆయన నిజ రూప దర్శనము మీరు చూసి మీ పిల్లలకు చూపించండి.. rare video.. భారత్ మాతాకు జై జై హింద్”
When translated, it claims: “Salutations to Swami Vivekananda who spread the greatness of India and the significance of Hindu Dharma across continents. After seeing him for yourself, show this great person to your children too. Jai Bharat. Jai Hind.”
https://www.facebook.com/reel/
The video was shared virally on WhatsApp also.
Fact Check:
The claim is false. The person seen in the video is Paramahamsa Yogananda and not Swami Vivekananda.
When the keyframes extracted from the video are searched using Google reverse image search, we found several results. A YouTube channel named Universal Yogodans published a video titled Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda ji – During his early years in America. This video was published in November 2016.
The same video was published by another YouTube channel Ananda Sangha Worldwide.
This same visual has been published as a reel on Ananda Worldwide's Facebook page also.
We also found a reel published by the Facebook page Paramahansa Yogananda, with the description “Yogananda in New York. We are very happy to offer you (in collaboration with the University of South Carolina) this original video footage of Swami Yogananda visiting New York in 1923.
Therefore, the Hindu sage seen in the viral video is not Swami Vivekananda, it is Paramahansa Yogananda, a yogi and guru who instructed millions of people about the benefits of Kriya Yoga and Meditation. He is also known as “Father of yoga in the West” as he introduced yoga and meditation to the West in the 1920s. The claim is false.