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| - Fact Check: This is not the 'newly renovated' Kashi Vishwanath temple
A fake video of the Kashi Vishwanath temple is doing the rounds on social media. It has been uploaded on Youtube and shows hundreds of Shivlings inside the temple.
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India Today Fact Check
This is Varanasi’s Mani Mandir, inaugurated in February last year. Although the beautification project in Varanasi is in full swing, the main Kashi Vishwanath temple, sanctum sanctorum and surrounding areas will remain unchanged.
Work on the Kashi Vishwanath corridor the multi-crore expansion and beautification project in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency Varanasi is continuing on a war footing. Amid this, a video is circulating on social media with the claim that it is the renovated Kashi Vishwanath temple.
The video, which has also been uploaded on YouTube shows hundreds of Shivlings inside the temple, crystal replicas of the 12 Jyotirlingas, and the temple’s stunning interiors.
However, India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that it is not the Kashi Vishwanath temple, but Mani Mandir in Varanasi. According to the plan, the main Kashi Vishwanath temple, the sanctum sanctorum, and the surrounding areas will remain unchanged in the beautification drive.
The archived versions of the viral posts are saved here, here, and here.
AFWA investigation
Some users had commented on the viral posts that it is Mani Mandir in Varanasi. Taking this as a cue, we looked for news articles and videos related to the temple.
Some local news channels and vloggers had put out videos of Mani Mandir on YouTube, which resemble the viral video.
As per news reports the temple was inaugurated in February last year.
Similar interiors and pictures of the Jyotirlingas as seen in the viral clipping have been published in these news reports, which prove the video was shot inside Mani Mandir.
Screenshot from viral video
Mani Mandir picture in news report
The Mani Mandir is run by a religious organisation called Shri Dharm Sangh. Its website has multiple pictures and videos of the temple that show the same structure and lingas as seen in the viral video.
Will Kashi Vishwanath get a new look?
AFWA spoke to Sunil Verma, the CEO of Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust, to confirm whether the historic Kashi Vishwanath temple will get a new look in the renovation drive.
“There is no plan to change anything in the main temple, the sanctum sanctorum or the surrounding areas of the temple. It will remain as it is with its old glory,” Verma said. According to him, the massive expansion and beautification project will be completed by November 15 this year.
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