Fact Check: Viral image of Ugranarasimhadevara NOT found during excavation near Turkey-Syria border
This picture was shared virally both on Facebook and Twitter in 2020. The same image is being shared again on Facebook and WhatsApp.
An image is in circulation on social media with the claim that it shows the sculpture of Lord Narasimha found in the excavations near Turkey-Syria border.
This picture was shared virally both on Facebook and Twitter in 2020. The same image is being shared again on Facebook and WhatsApp.
A few users shared the image with an English caption "Ugranarasimhadevara. 3,200 year Idol of Lord Narasimha found during an excavation in Tigris–Euphrates (Mesopotamia) in the Southeastern Turkish–Syrian borders."
Some others are also sharing the image with the caption in Hindi as "तुर्की-सीरियाई सीमा पर टाइग्
Fact check:
The claim that the viral image shows a sculpture found during the excavations near the Turkey-Syria border is FALSE. The image shows a sculpture in a temple near Kuta beach, Bali.
Firstly, when we searched for information about the excavation work near Turkey-Syria border, we found a few articles about the excavation work taken up in the ancient city of Karkemish and their findings. There are no reports of finding any sculpture resembling that in the viral image in any of the reports.
https://phys.org/news/2012-11-
When we performed a reverse image search using the Yandex search engine, we found an article on a website named virtourist.com. The website states that the image shows one of the statues on the gate of the Hindu temple located at Kuta Beach, Bali.
When searching with keywords 'temples at Kuta beach, Bali', we found a few temples in the area. All these temples have similar sculptures at their entrance.
Tripadvisor shares an image of the sculpture stating that it belongs to a temple named Dalem Penataram Desa Adat.
Using Google maps, when we searched for images of the temple, we found an image posted by a user in February 2013, which shows the sculpture identical to the viral image.
When observed carefully, we found that both images are of the same sculpture.
Therefore, the viral image is not a 3,200-year-old sculpture found during the excavations near Turkey-Syria border. The claim is FALSE.
