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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

FACTLYReligion & belief

Visuals of the Madurai Meenakshi idol when decorated with golden attire

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim concerns a video presented as showing the Madurai Meenakshi idol dressed in golden attire inside the Arulmigu Meenakshi Sundareshwarar Temple. The review found that the video instead shows a golden Meenakshi idol displayed at the Chemmanur International Jewellers showroom in Madurai. It states that the idol was carved using 210 kilograms of gold and silver, and that the footage does not depict the temple’s own idol. [S1: “The video shared in the post shows Madurai Meenakshi idol displayed at Chemmanur International Jewellers showroom in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. This idol was carved using 210 kg of gold and silver. This video does not show the Meenakshi idol inside the Arulmigu Meenakshi Sundareshwarar Temple in Madurai.”] To investigate, the review reports that it reverse-image-searched screenshots from the video and found a similar image on Getty Images. The image description identified the depicted golden idol as displayed at a jewelry shop near the historic temple. The review also found similar footage on Chemmanur International Jewellers Madurai’s Facebook page, where the jeweller described the video as being for customers and said the idol was carved using 210 kilograms of gold and silver. [S1: “On reverse image searching the screenshots in the video, a similar picture of a golden idol was found on the Getty Images website. The description of the photo states, ‘Idol of Goddess Madurai Meenakshi Amman made from 210kg of pure gold and silver displayed at a jewelry shop near the historic Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple (Arulmigu Meenakshi Sundareshwarar Temple) located in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India’.”] [S1: “When we searched for further sources using these keywords, we found similar visuals of a golden Meenakshi idol in a video published by the Chemmanur International Jewellers Madurai on their Facebook page. Describing it as a video for customers, Chemmanur International Jewellers in the description stated, ‘Blessing of Goddess Meenakshi Amman is Here. Idol carved using 210 Kg Gold & Silver Blessed in Madurai Meenakshi Amman Kovil’.”] The review distinguishes the showroom display from the temple’s customary decoration of its own goddess idol: it says Meenakshi is decorated with gold ornaments during festivals, including Tirukalyanam and other ceremonies, but the video in question does not show that temple idol. The evidence therefore identifies the footage as a showroom display rather than the claimed temple scene. [S1: “During the festivals, Tirukalyanam and other ceremonies, goddess Meenakshi will be decorated with Gold ornaments. But the photo shared in the post does not show the actual Meenakshi idol inside the Madurai Meenakshi Temple.”]

YouturnReligion & belief

*Court verdict for Hindu temple!* There are many Muslims in Kalathur village in the Perambalur district. It is against Islam for Hindus to worship idols there, so Islamic organizations led by Stalin and partnering organizations and Muslim Minister Mastan & Nasser requested the court to ban it! But High Court questioned *what will be your situation if Hindus think like this, and the case has been dismissed!* But the news channels in Tamil Nadu have become front-line workers and have not published the news without giving importance to this! The media of the neighbouring state have reported this due to media ethics!

Publisher’s rating: Fake

FACTLYReligion & belief

Recent video of Muslims in Jaipur displaying a banner of Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati and threatening to kill him

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim concerns a video said to show Muslims in Jaipur displaying a banner of Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati and threatening to kill him. The review identifies the footage as a protest in Jaipur, but says it was not recent: “The video shared in the post shows the visuals of a one-year-old protest that took place at the Ghat Gate Bazar area in Jaipur, Rajasthan.” It reports that the protest was directed at Narsinghanand over alleged derogatory remarks about the Prophet and the Muslim community. The review describes two checks on the footage’s history. A reverse image search of screenshots found a video with similar visuals in a Facebook post dated 15 April 2021. The review also cites a TV9 Bharatvarsh article identifying the footage as a protest in the Ghat Gate Bazar area in April 2021. These findings place the video more than a year before it was circulated as recent. The review’s decisive corroboration is a clarification from Jaipur Police, which it says responded to a similar claim and confirmed the footage showed an April 2021 protest. It also reports that Rajasthan Police posted a confirmation. The review therefore establishes that the video is of the claimed Jaipur protest, but that presenting it as recent misstates when it was filmed.

FACTLYReligion & belief

Nupur Sharma’s recent speech after her alleged controversial remarks against Prophet Muhammed

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim concerned a social-media video presented as Nupur Sharma speaking recently after her remarks about Prophet Muhammad. The review identifies the footage as excerpts from a speech at a “Vyakhyan” program organised by the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram in Maharashtra on 24 May 2018—not a recent appearance. The speech included remarks about midnight Supreme Court hearings for terrorists, Triple Talaq, the burqa and marriage in Islam. (S1: “This video shows Nupur Sharma raising questions about the midnight Supreme Court hearings for terrorists, and making statements against Triple Talaq, Burqa and the marriage system in Islam.”; “This event took place on 24 May 2018. It is not a recent video.”) To check the video’s provenance, the review says it searched screenshots from the footage using reverse image search, then searched online for related details using keywords. It reports finding similar visuals in a collage Sharma tweeted on 25 May 2018, describing her participation in the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram event. The review also says it found a video of the speech posted by a Facebook user on 24 May 2018. These contemporaneous traces place the material years before the social-media post’s claim of a recent speech. (S1: “On reverse image search of the screenshots in the video, we could not find any credible sources related to this video.”; “When we searched for the details of the video using relevant keywords on the internet, similar visuals were found in a collage of images tweeted by Nupur Sharma on 25 May 2018.”; “a video showing Nupur Sharma’s speech at the ‘Vyakhyan’ program was found to be posted by a Facebook user on 24 My 2018.”) The review further reports that, from 3:45 minutes into the Facebook video, Sharma makes the same statements seen in the circulated clip. It says the social-media video was made by editing portions of the full speech. Thus, the footage is linked to the 2018 event, while its presentation as a recent post-remarks speech is contradicted by the identified event date and earlier records of the speech. (S1: “From 3:45 minutes of the video, we could see Nupur Sharma making the same statements as shown in the post.”; “The video shared in the post was created by editing some portions of Nupur Sharma’s full speech at the ‘Vyakhyan’ event held in Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram.”)