PeakMetrics / Fact Checks
Religion & belief fact checks
Explore claims publishers have checked about religion & belief. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.
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Search by text or image3,371 published reviews in this topic
Video shows the visuals of Jagannath’s Rath Yatra
Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING
The claim concerns a video shared as showing Jagannath’s Rath Yatra. FACTLY reports that the video was not related to that procession: it was footage from Madurai’s Chithirai festival. The review says its conclusion came after checking screenshots from the video using Google Reverse Image Search and finding matching or similar footage associated with the Madurai festival. The review traces the video to two earlier appearances. It says a Twitter user posted a similar video in April 2022 with a description identifying the Madurai Chithirai festival and Meenakshi Amman Temple. It also reports finding the same video on YouTube, uploaded in 2018 under a title identifying the Madurai Chithirai festival and “THEROTTAM.” These earlier appearances support the review’s identification of the footage as Madurai festival material, rather than visuals of Jagannath’s Rath Yatra. FACTLY distinguishes the circulated clip from footage of the Jagannath procession: it points readers to visuals of the recent Rath Yatra in Puri and concludes that the shared video is an old video related to the Madurai Chithirai festival. The excerpt does not give the dates of those Puri visuals or details about how they were verified.
দীর্ঘ ২৮০ বছর পরে এবারের হজ্জ্ব শুক্রবার পড়েছে, যা হজ্জ্বে আকবর! আলহামদুলিল্লাহ্
Publisher’s rating: False
רבע מבנות המצווה בישראל עושות טקס בבית כנסת רפורמי
Publisher’s rating: לא נכון
Video showing Tirupati Balaji temple being decorated with currency notes instead of flowers
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
The post presented a video as showing Tirupati Balaji Temple decorated with currency notes instead of flowers. FACTLY’s review examined that specific video claim and concluded that the temple shown was Sri Kanyaka Parameswari Temple in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh—not Tirupati Balaji Temple. The review notes that both temples are in Andhra Pradesh, but identifies them as different temples. To investigate the footage, the review says it used reverse image search on screenshots from the video. That search found a video with similar visuals on YouTube, which, according to the review, identified the location as Sri Kanyaka Parameswari Temple in Nellore. The review also says it searched online using relevant keywords and found news reports about that temple’s decoration. These checks connect the circulated visuals to Nellore rather than to the temple named in the post. The review places the decoration at the Nellore temple in October 2021, during Dasara celebrations, and says the temple committee decorated the deity with currency notes. It reports that devotees helped provide nearly 7 kg of gold, 64 kg of silver and ₹5.16 crore in currency for the decoration. FACTLY says it found no recent reports of Tirupati Balaji Temple being decorated with currency notes instead of flowers. Thus, the documented event was real, but the video was misidentified as showing Tirupati Balaji Temple.
Photo shows an apple with a Hindu goddess on it
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
FACTLY examined a social-media post claiming that a photo showed an apple with a Hindu goddess on it. The review says the image was edited: in the original photo, the apple did not have a goddess on it. Its conclusion addresses the image in the post, rather than claiming that no image of a goddess exists elsewhere. To investigate, FACTLY reports running the photo through Google Reverse Image Search. It found similar apple photos without a goddess, and separately found the goddess image used in the posted version. The review says these were two different images combined to create the edited post image. That comparison supports the review’s finding that the apparent goddess on the apple was added through editing. The supplied excerpt does not identify the individual source images or provide further details about who made the composite or when it was created.
The untold truths of Tirumala temple
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
FACTLY examined a social-media post claiming to reveal “untold truths” about the Tirumala (Tirupati Balaji) temple. The review describes the claims it checked: that the idol has real hair and sweats, and that flowers and other sacred items come from a secret village about 23 km from Tirupati. It says it could not find credible information supporting the post’s claims as recently published after 2015. For the disputed claims, the review points to a 2015 episode in which similar claims circulated and TTD chief priest Ramana Deekshitulu addressed them in an interview with ETV. As recounted by FACTLY, he rejected the claims that the idol has hair behind it or sweats, describing those attributions as assigning human qualities to the deity. The excerpt does not provide the interview recording or a transcript, so these details are reported through the fact-check rather than independently documented here. On the flowers, the review says the temple’s flowers are grown in groves around the temple or offered by devotees, rather than supplied by a secret village. Its conclusion addresses the post’s specific assertions; the supplied excerpt does not detail a separate inspection of temple supply records or describe how the social-media post itself was traced.
‘It is better to fill the stomach of a poor person than to offer milk on Shiva ling’ – Aamir Khan
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
FACTLY investigated a social-media post attributing to Aamir Khan the statement that feeding a poor person is better than offering milk on a Shiva ling. The review reports that searches using relevant keywords found no reports attributing the remarks to Khan, and that it found no evidence he made them in real life. Its conclusion is about the attribution to Khan—not whether the quoted opinion appears elsewhere or whether someone else expressed a similar view. The review distinguishes the viral attribution from a scene in Khan’s 2014 film *PK*. It says the film portrays satisfying poor children’s hunger instead of feeding milk to the Shiva lingam, but stresses that this was not a real-life statement by Khan. It also notes that, when *PK* drew criticism for allegedly insulting Hindu beliefs, Khan said he had not insulted any religion and respected Lord Shiva. The article further reports that Akshay Kumar, a different actor, had made similar comments on multiple occasions, including calling out the use of milk and oil on idols and suggesting those could feed poor people. This distinction helps explain how a similar viewpoint could be associated with the wrong person; it does not support attributing the remarks to Aamir Khan.
Photo shows Hindus worshipping in the only remaining Lord Shiva temple in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan). Also, the Hindus must wear skull caps to worship in that temple
Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING
The claim concerns a photo said to show Hindus worshipping at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s only remaining Lord Shiva temple, with skull caps allegedly required there. The review identifies the people in the photo as Zahid Kumar and his sons and the location as the Goraknath Temple in Peshawar. It says the image was found through a Google Reverse Image Search in a 2019 Express Tribune article, which described Kumar and his sons visiting the temple. The temple’s location does not establish that it is the province’s only remaining Shiva temple. The review reports that there is another Shiva temple in Mansehra city, also in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and notes Shivratri celebrations at Dargah Pir Ratan Nath in Peshawar, described as dedicated to Lord Shiva. The “only remaining” part of the post’s claim is therefore contradicted by the review’s account of other temples and celebrations. The review also challenges the claim that worshippers must wear skull caps. It points to other 2017 photos posted by Zahid Kumar showing visitors with no head covering or with cloth covering their heads, and says other temple visuals show devotees without skull caps. Those examples do not support a requirement that all worshippers wear skull caps. Taken together, the review concludes that the photo is from the Goraknath Temple, but the claims about it being the only remaining Shiva temple and about compulsory skull caps are not supported.
Video of Tirupati Balaji shot by National Geographic Channel, with the permission of Central government
Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING
The claim concerns a video circulating online that was said to show Tirupati Balaji and to have been filmed by National Geographic Channel with Central government permission. FACTLY’s review compared screenshots from the circulating video with online video material. It reports that reverse image searches found a YouTube video with similar visuals, uploaded by SVBC TTD’s official channel on 02 June 2017. The review identifies SVBC TTD as a devotional channel run by Tirumala Tirupati Devastanams. The review distinguishes that upload from a separate National Geographic production. It says National Geographic made an exclusive documentary called “Inside Tirumala Tirupati” about the temple, and that the channel’s crew received access inside the temple. The existence of that documentary therefore does not establish that National Geographic filmed the specific video in the post. On the evidence described, the circulated video’s similar visuals are traced to the SVBC TTD upload, while National Geographic’s documented involvement relates to a separate documentary. FACTLY concludes that the claim about the video in the post was misleading.
Papst Benedikt hat eine SS-Mütze getragen.
Publisher’s rating: Das Bild ist bearbeitet. Im Original handelt es sich um eine Polizei-Mütze.
The claim concerns an image circulated on Facebook that purported to show Pope Benedict XVI wearing an SS cap, and used it to suggest a connection between him and the SS. The review traces the circulated image to a photograph from 2008, taken during Benedict’s visit to Sydney. It reports that a reverse-image search surfaced the original photograph and that Reuters was identified as its source; the photograph could also be found on Reuters’ website. (S1: “Das auf Facebook kursierende Bild stammt im Original aus dem Jahr 2008, wie eine Foto-Rückwärts-Suche ergibt. Diese zeigt auch, unter welchen Umständen das Bild entstanden ist: Der inzwischen emeritiere Papst besuchte Sydney.”; “Als Fotoquelle wird die Agentur Reuters angegeben. Auf deren Website lässt sich das Foto auch finden.”) The comparison identified the decisive alteration: the background, hand gesture, and lighting match, but the crop differs slightly and the cap shown in the circulated version is not the one in the original. In the original photograph, Benedict is wearing a police cap. Thus, the image does not establish that he wore an SS cap; the purported SS headwear is the manipulated element. (S1: “Hintergrund, Handbewegung und Licht sind auf den beiden Bildern identisch. Aber: Der Bildausschnitt ist minimal verändert und statt der angeblichen SS-Mütze trägt Benedikt XVI. im Original eine Polizei-Mütze.”)
අගරදගුරු මැල්කම් කාදිනල් රංජිත් හිමිපාණෝ ඉලක්ක කරගත් ව්යාජ සංස්කරණයක්!
Publisher’s rating: Altered
The investigation examined a social-media image that presented inflammatory remarks about the 2019 Easter attacks as statements by Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith published in a newspaper. The review says the image had circulated before, including in 2019, and focused on whether Ranjith had made the quoted remarks and whether they appeared in a newspaper. It reports finding no mainstream-media report that he had made those statements. To check the image, the investigators compared its layout and wording with a genuine Maubima front-page report about Ranjith. They identified that report as published on July 22, 2019, and said its photographs and format resembled those in the circulating image. The review notes that the newspaper’s e-paper link was no longer working; it says the comparison image came from an English-language fact-check the publisher had done at the time. The comparison showed that the image’s headlines had been replaced: for example, the genuine headline concerned leaders with no policy who should go home, while the altered image attributed a statement about God to Ranjith. Other substituted lines changed references to intelligence services, the United Nations, and leaders into claims about worshippers, the Vatican, God, and bombings. The review also reports that the Archdiocese’s director of social communications, Father Jude Chrysantha Fernando, said Ranjith had never made the circulating statements. It concludes that the image was created by editing parts of the 2019 Maubima report.
Video of a man getting thrashed for asking a woman to remove her head covering (hijab)
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
Azam recently claimed that Lord Ram is his ideal and not Mughals
Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING
The claim concerns a video of Azam Khan saying that Lord Ram was his ideal, circulated as though he had made the remarks recently after his release from prison in May 2022. FACTLY’s review distinguishes the truth of the words from the timing implied by the post: it says Khan did describe Ram and Krishna as ideals, but did so in 2017 at the Samajwadi Party’s national convention—not recently after his release. [S1] The review gives a loose translation of the circulated speech: “Yogi ji Mughal is not our ideal, our ideal is Ram, our ideal is Kishan ji too.” [S1] To check when the remarks were made, FACTLY reports that searches using relevant keywords led to news reports from 2017 covering Khan’s remarks at the convention. It also says a search found footage of the convention, and that the relevant words can be heard at the 15:13 timestamp. These checks support the review’s conclusion that the video shows an older statement presented with a misleading recent-timing implication. [S1] The review further reports finding no accounts of Khan repeating the same statement after his release from prison. Its conclusion is therefore about the post’s suggestion of recency, not a denial that Khan made the remarks: FACTLY says he did make them in 2017, while the supplied evidence does not establish a later repetition. [S1]
Claim: Arjun Sampath not described those who working in Arab countries are not pure Hindus
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
Claim: misinformation spreading on thirumohoor kalamegaperumal temple
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
The review investigated social-media posts alleging that the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department had authorized a mobile-phone tower at Thirumohur Kalamegaperumal Temple, near Madurai, and was earning rent from it. The posts used an image of a structure above the temple and described it as a phone tower. The review reports that the claim began circulating in a Facebook post dated June 16, 2022, and that the image was shared more widely afterward. [S1]