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| - Fact Check: Viral photo of cyclist on temple wall is not from India
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the viral photo is not from the said Tamil Nadu temple.
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India Today Fact Check
The viral photo is not of Panchavarnaswamy temple in Tamil Nadu, but Pura Meduwe Karang temple in Indonesia's Bali.
A wall carving of a man riding a bicycle is being shared on social media with the claim that it was in use in India centuries ago. Some Facebook users are claiming that the 2,000-year-old carving is from Panchavarnaswamy temple in Tamil Nadu.
Facebook page 'Hindutva se badhkar koi dharm nahi, gau gita ganga aur gayatri' shared the image along with a caption in Hindi which translates to, "This is Panchavarnaswamy temple in Tamil Nadu. This wall craving is 2,000 years old. Scientists believe so. But someone else is credited with inventing the cycle. Who did the crime of overlooking India's glorious past and making it a country of snake charmers and beggars?"
The archived version of the post can be seen here.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the viral photo is not from the said Tamil Nadu temple. In fact, it is not from India, but a temple in Indonesia. Also, it has been well documented that the bicycle was invented in Germany in 1817.
The photograph in the viral post shows a beautiful carving on a wall and it appears that a man is cycling in the midst of flowers and plants. The man is wearing a cap and a flower on his ear. Many Facebook users have shared the photo along with similar claims.
AFWA probe
We first did a reverse search on the viral image and found that it is from the Pura Meduwe Karang temple in Bali island of Indonesia. The same photo can be seen on the website of tripsavvy and Bali LOCAL GUIDE.
Who is portrayed in the wall carving?
We searched the Internet and found that multiple websites such as lonely planet say the caricature on the Pura Meduwe Karang temple wall is of a Dutch artist who had roamed Bali on his cycle in 1904.
A different cyclist on TN temple wall
The huge Panchavarnaswamy temple near Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu is dedicated to Lord Shiva. While searching the Internet with keywords such as 'Panchavarnaswamy temple' and 'cycle', we came across some news reports such as one from The Hindu, which says there is a carving on the temple wall of a man cycling.
However, the report specifically says that the researcher found the caricature of the cyclist must have been added in the 1920s when the renovation of the temple was undertaken.
SMHoaxSlayer has already debunked the viral claim that the image of a cyclist in Panchavarnaswamy temple is 2,000 years old.
When was cycle invented?
There are many websites on the Internet such as Bicycle History and History.com which state that the cycle was first invented by a German named Baron Karl von Drais in 1817. Without pedals and chain, the rider had to run to gather speed and then raise the legs to continue cruising until the momentum was lost.
Therefore, we can say that the wall carving depicting a cyclist is not from India, but a temple in Indonesia's Bali. The claim that it is a 2,000-year-old carving on Tamil Nadu's Panchavarnaswamy temple is false. Also, the cycle was invented in 1817 in Germany.
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You can also send us an email at factcheck@intoday.com
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