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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Religion & belief fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about religion & belief. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

3,371 published reviews in this topic

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaReligion & belief

FACT CHECK: කූරගල බෞද්ධ ප්‍රබෝධයත් සමග එහි පැවති ඉස්ලාම් පල්ලිය ඉවත් කර ඇද්ද ??

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The claim arose from a social-media post pairing images labelled as Kuragala “then” and “now.” The post implied that the Islamic religious site once there was no longer present and that a Buddhist site had taken its place. The review places the claim in the context of Buddhist restoration work at Kuragala, including construction of a dagoba, while noting that an Islamic religious site had also been maintained there. It says the paired images were used to convey that the mosque had disappeared. (The post’s own wording and image provenance are not independently established in the excerpt.)

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaReligion & belief

Galleface Green ඉදිරිපිට ලංකාවේ විශාලතම මුස්ලිම් පල්ලි ඉදිකිරීමට මුල්ගල තිබ්බාද?

Publisher’s rating: False

The claim said that a foundation stone had been laid for a proposed mosque facing Galle Face Green, described in the posts as Sri Lanka’s largest. The review investigated whether such a mosque had been proposed or whether a foundation stone had been laid at that location. It reports that the Urban Development Authority’s Additional Director General, Mahinda Withanaarachchi, said no mosque had been proposed facing Galle Face Green and no foundation stone had been laid there: “ගෝල්ෆේස් පිටියට මුහුණලා මුස්ලිම් පල්ලියක් ඉදිකිරීමට යෝජනා වී නොමැති බවයි. එමෙන්ම එම ස්ථානයකට මුල් ගල තැබීම ද සිදු වී නොමැති බවයි”. The review also says it found no media reports of a foundation stone being laid for such a project, and that the site did not show a mosque under construction. Its image check was a reverse-image search of the mosque rendering used in the social-media posts. The review identifies that image as a rendering of a mosque planned for Calicut, Kerala, rather than a project facing Galle Face Green: “එය දකුණු ඉන්දියාවේ කේරළ ප්‍රාන්තයේ, කැලිකට්හි, ඉදිකිරීමට නියමිත ඉන්දියාවේ විශාලතම මුස්ලිම් පල්ලිය වන Sha’re Mubarak Masjid ( Blessed Hair Grand Mosque ) මුස්ලිම් දේවස්ථානයේ අනුරුවක් බවයි.” Together, the authority’s reported response and the image’s identification address the specific location and the misleading visual evidence in the claim. The review concludes that the circulating posts were false, explaining that the image showed the planned Kerala mosque and that the authority had not approved a mosque facing Galle Face Green: “නාගරික සංවර්ධන අධිකාරිය පැවසුවේ ද, එලෙස මුස්ලිම් දේවස්ථානයක් සෑදීමට අවසර ලබා දී නොමැති බවයි.”

FACTLYReligion & belief

Real photo of Sai Baba

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a viral image of a garland-covered man said to be Sai Baba. FACTLY reports that its reverse image search led to a newsletter published by the Sri Ramana Maharshi Ashram, where the same image appears. The review identifies the man as Ramana Maharshi, a 20th-century Indian sage—not Sai Baba. These findings address the image’s identity, rather than a broader claim about either figure. [S1: “A reverse image search of the viral photo led us to a newsletter of the Sri Ramana Maharshi Ashram, in which the same image was published.”; “The viral photo actually shows the 20th-century Indian sage Ramana Maharshi, not Sai Baba.”] The review says the image was taken after Ramana Maharshi’s death on 14 April 1950. It also reports that the same image appears on a website presenting a timeline of events in his life, and says the image’s accompanying description supports that identification. The review qualifies that this timeline site is not Ramana Maharshi’s official website. [S1: “This image was clicked on 14 April 1950, after the death of Ramana Maharshi.”; “The same image is also published on a website that features the timeline of major events in the life of Ramana Maharshi.”; “It is to be noted that this is not the official website of Ramana Maharishi.”] As a comparison, FACTLY says the oldest image of Sai Baba can be viewed on the official website of the Shri Sai Baba Sansthan Trust, Shirdi. On the basis of its image-search findings and the cited Ramana Maharshi material, the review concludes that the viral image was misidentified as Sai Baba; it rates that claim false. [S1: “On the other hand, the oldest image of Sai Baba can be viewed on the official website of Shri Sai Baba Sansthan Trust, Shirdi.”; “To sum it up, an image of deceased Ramana Maharshi passed off as Sai Baba.”; “Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.”]

FACTLYReligion & belief

Photo of an ice clad Yogi in Himalayas

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a photo circulated as showing an ice-clad yogi in the Himalayas. FACTLY identifies the person as Baba Bhalegiri Ji Maharaj and says the image shows him performing Agni Tapasya in Haryana, not in the Himalayas. It reports that he performs the practice near Sheetla Mata Mandir in Sonipat District, and that he is known for doing so in Rindhana village. The review describes two checks. A reverse image search found a similar photo on the Facebook page “Baba sarbangi I,” which the review says was posted on 18 June 2019. FACTLY compared that image with the viral version, noting that the viral image had been turned black and white while the earlier image was in colour. It also reports that videos of Bhalegiri performing Agni Tapasya matched the photo’s posture and surroundings. These comparisons support the review’s identification of the image as a Haryana fire-ascetic practice rather than a scene of a yogi covered in Himalayan ice. FACTLY adds that the material on the person could be ash from the fire; it does not present that explanation as certain. The review concludes that the image was misrepresented.