Fact Check: The saint in mud is from Haryana but NOT from Kedarnath
When translated, it reads: “Baba Bhalegiri Ji Maharaj, a monk from Haryana…… smeared dung on his body as part of a sadhana called Pancha Agni Tapasya.”
An image of a seer (sadhu) sitting in meditation with mud smeared all over his body is in circulation with a claim in Malayalam. The users are claiming that the seer has applied dung on his body, as part of an ascetic ritual.
The claim goes as "ഹരിയാനയിലെ ബാബാ ഭലേഗിരി ജി മഹാരാജ് എന്ന സന്യാസി...... പഞ്ച അഗ്നി തപസ്യ എന്ന സാധനയുടെ ഭാഗമായി ദേഹത്ത് ചാണകം പുരട്ടിയിരിക്കുന്നു."
When translated, it reads: "Baba Bhalegiri Ji Maharaj, a monk from Haryana…… smeared dung on his body as part of a sadhana called Pancha Agni Tapasya."
Some users shared the image with the claim that he is a Shiva Yogi meditating at minus 3 degree centrigrade in Kedarnath.
Fact check:
The claim is FALSE. The video shows a seer from Haryana and not a monk from Kedarnath.
When we searched the image using Google reverse image search, we found a facebook post in Malayalam stating that the person in the image is Baba Bhalegiri ji Maharaj, a monk from Haryana, with dung smeared on his body as part of a sadhana called Pancha Agni Tapasya.
Taking the cue, when we searched using Baba Bhalegiri ji Maharaj, we found several articles published on him.
We found an official facebook page of Baba Sarbhangi from Sonipat, Haryana.
The facebook page showed the visuals of the saint smeared in mud. The post said "Baba Bhale Giri Ji Maharaj ki jai ho पंच नाम दशनाम जूना अखाड़ा
The saint Baba Sarbhangi is from Juna Akhara, which is a group of saints that has headquarters in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.
A YouTube channel named Baba Sarbhangi vlog, also shows the saint sitting in the centre of a circle with mud on his body.
This video was uploaded on June 24, 2018.
Hence, the monk seen in the video is from Haryana and not meditating at minus 3 degrees in Kedarnath. The claim is FALSE.