Fact Check: Video showing Christians praying inside a shrine makes a false claim on its occurrence at 1,000-pillar temple
A video of a group of people praying on the premises of a temple is viral on social media with the claim that “Christians were found praying inside the Thousand Pillar Temple'' in Warangal.
A video of a group of people praying on the premises of a temple is viral on social media with the claim that “Christians were found praying inside the Thousand Pillar Temple'' in Warangal.
Facebook users captioned the video, “Christian Prayers in Warangal Thousand Pillar Temple Mandapam. Christians purposely provoke.”
Even the former director of CBI M. Nageswara Rao tweeted the video suggesting the possibility of Christians performing prayers/mass at the Thousand Pillar Temple. (However, he did mention the chances of it being from a different temple too)
FACT CHECK:
We found the claim false as the video is not from the Thousand Pillar Temple.
The official Twitter handle of the Commissioner of Police, Warangal, replied to M. Nageswara Rao’s tweet, saying that the incident took place at the Warangal Fort. It also mentioned that the culprits were arrested and a criminal case was registered at the Mills Colony police station.
The verified Twitter handle of the Telangana police replied to the tweet as well and confirmed that the video is not from the Thousand Pillar Temple. It further suggested Mr. Rao to verify the authenticity of such videos before forwarding them.
The Telangana police chief also confirmed that the claim is false as the incident did not take place at Thousand Pillar Temple. He said Telangana remains committed to protecting the secular ethos and also warned those spreading false information.
Moreover, we found some news articles on the above mentioned incident at the Warangal Fort. An FIR was reportedly registered against a pastor and others for conducting Christian prayers inside a Hindu temple at the Fort. Members from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal took exception to Christians’ performing prayers in front of Hindu temples that were built by the Kakatiya rulers at Fort Warangal. They demanded action against those who had organized the programme, which they said was "an insult to Hindu gods." If the officials failed to take action, VHP and other Hindu organizations would launch an agitation, they warned, which led to filing of the FIR.
Evidently, it is clear that Christians were not found praying inside the Thousand Pillar Temple but at another temple in Warangal Fort. The claim is misleading.