Fact Check: Malls in India did not put up Lord Rama’s statues as part of Christmas decoration
Big malls in India make it a point to celebrate every festival adorning their premises with banners, festoons and theme decoration for every festive season. The managements ensure that new ideas are put on display while decorating the surroundings and free spaces. In fact, they are spending huge time and money on unique decorations for every festival like Dasara, Diwali, Christmas, etc.
Claim :
Malls that sported decorated and illuminated conifers in December to mark Christmas are now bedecked with huge statues of Lord RamaFact :
Two videos show decoration done during Diwali in the malls but not Christmas festivities
Big malls in India make it a point to celebrate every festival adorning their premises with banners, festoons and theme decoration for every festive season. The managements ensure that new ideas are put on display while decorating the surroundings and free spaces. In fact, they are spending huge time and money on unique decorations for every festival like Dasara, Diwali, Christmas, etc.
Meanwhile, two videos showing huge Lord Rama statue decorations in malls are going viral with the claim that instead of Christmas tree decorations, malls are instilling statues of Lord Rama in December.
The claim in Hindi goes: “अद्भुत बदलाव... जयतु सनातन
Two different videos are in circulation with the same claim.
The first video shows a single statue of Lord Rama holding a bow and arrow. The second video has statues of Lord Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita along with Hanuman.
Video 1:
Video 2:
Fact Check:
The claim is Misleading. The Lord Rama statues are old and were installed in different malls for Diwali.
Video 1:
When we extracted the key frames from the video and searched using Google reverse image search, we found a YouTube video published in November 2023 with the title “Shree Ram Ji theme this Diwali in Ambience mall I Diwali celebration in Gurgaon”
In the video, we can see the decoration in the Ambience Mall, Gurgaon.
When searched for Diwali decorations in Ambience Mall, Gurgaon, we found their Instagram account which published a video showing the decoration with the caption “Embark on a journey into the enchanting world of Diwali wonder at Ambience Mall Gurgaon. Behold the grandeur of a 22ft Lord Shri Ram figurine intricately fashioned by gifted artisans hailing from Kolkata.”
The same Instagram account has also published Christmas celebrations in the same mall, showing decorations relating to the festival.
Video 2:
When we searched for the key frames of the video showing the statues of Lord Rama, Lakshman, and Sita along with Hanuman, we found that these statues were installed in the Fun Republic Mall in Lucknow for Diwali.
The Instagram account of the mall shared the video of the statues on the occasion of Diwali.
The latest posts on the Instagram account show a huge Christmas tree as part of Christmas celebrations
Hence, the two videos in circulation with the same caption show Diwali decorations in two different malls in India, not Christmas celebrations. The claim is Misleading.
