Fact Check: Viral image showing sea of devotees is not from Ayodhya but Puri
After the successful completion of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony to Lord Ram’s idol at Ayodhya on January 22, 2024, the pilgrim city is witnessing an unprecedented rush. Around 3 lakh devotees visited the temple to offer prayers to Ram Lalla. In such a situation, a
Claim :
The image shows a 7.5-km queue of devotees waiting for darshan at AyodhyaFact :
The image is an old one, and shows the flood of devotees during Jagannath Rath Yatra in June 2023
After the successful completion of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony to Lord Ram’s idol at Ayodhya on January 22, 2024, the pilgrim city is witnessing an unprecedented rush. Around 3 lakh devotees visited the temple to offer prayers to Ram Lalla. In such a situation, an image showing a huge crowd spread in the whole street is shared on Twitter with the claim that it shows the devotees waiting for the darshan of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya.
The image is shared with the caption “7.5kms sea of devotees waiting for darshan at Ayodhya”.
Fact check:
The claim is False. The image does not show the devotee rush in Ayodhya but shows the crowd in Puri during the Jagannath Rath Yatra.
When we searched the image using Google reverse image search, we found that the image has been online since Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra in June 2023.
We found a YouTube video sharing the same visuals published on June 21, 2023, with the title “Crowd at iconic Jagannath Rath Yatra Puri, Odisha”
The visual also can be seen in the video shared by an Instagram user Purendra Creations.
The shillongtimes.com has also published the viral image with the caption ‘Devotees gather in large numbers to attend the annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath.’
Times content website of the Times group also shared a similar image with the caption “Annual Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra in Puri: Crowd of devotees during the annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath, in Puri, Odisha on June 20, 2023.
NDTV report states that a tidal wave of humans pulled forward giant chariots of Jagannath, Lord of the Earth, and his two siblings from a 12th-century stone temple in the heart of this seaside pilgrimage town to their abode. A million devotees are estimated to have converged on this town for the annual car festival. While most devotees were from Odisha and neighbouring states, many from abroad too joined in what is considered one of the largest religious processions globally.
Hence, the image is an old one and has no relation to the Ayodhya Ram Mandir. It shows the devotee rush in Puri during the Jagannath Rath Yatra in June 2023. Though the crowd in Ayodhya is very huge, the viral image does not represent Ayodhya after the consecration ceremony of the Ram Lalla idol. The claim is False.
