An image of a temple is being shared on social media with the claim that the temple is 5,000-year-old and it was found in Ayodhya while broadening the roads of the city. The photo is viral with the caption, ‘This is told to be 5,000 years old temple discovered’ while road widening in Ayodhya – ‘The Ram Janma Bhoomi’. Locals had built houses upon this beautiful temple which ‘covered’ the temple all these while. Sources say many more temples will be uncovered in coming days.’

This is told to be 5000 years old temple dis’Covered’ while road widening in Ayodhya – ‘The Ram Janma Bhoomi’. Locals…

Posted by Sashi Shekhar Das Tailor on Thursday, 17 December 2020

The post is widely shared on Facebook.

Twitter users have earlier tweeted the post.

Claim:

The viral image is of a 5,000 years old temple found in Ayodhya while digging the road.

Fact Check:

The Logical Indian did a reverse search of the image and found the same image was published by a Twitter handle IndiaDivine.Org with the caption, ‘Excavations in Varanasi for the widening of the road have found dozens of ancient temples hidden by peoples illegally constructed houses. The temples were completely covered by the house construction, even from above, hiding their existence.’

Taking a hint from the Tweet we searched with the keyword, ‘Kashi Vishwanath temple’ and found a similar image published on The Wire on January 23, 2019, which was republished on March 8, 2019. The image was captioned, ‘Temples 200 m away from the Kashi Vishwanath temple.’ The article spoke about the resentment of people against the demolition of buildings near Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

On comparing the viral image and the image published by The Wire, we observed that the top of the temples are the same and the structure is the same. While one photo was taken from the front angle, the viral image was taken from the left angle.

India Today spoke to Sunil Verma, CEO of Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust, who said, ‘This picture is from Varanasi and not Ayodhya. It is the Chandragupt Mahadev temple near Kashi Vishwanath temple. But the picture must be at least six months old. The Chandragupt Mahadev temple is one of the temples being restored as part of the corridor project. This temple is not more than 300 years old.’

Hence, the viral image is from Varanasi and not Ayodhya.

If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.

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