Video of Somnath temple viral as newly renovated Kashi Vishwanath temple

The video does not show the Kashi Vishwanath temple. According to the trust there has been no major changes made on the temple in Varanasi.

PM Modi is going to inaugurate the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor project on December 13 in Varanasi. This renovation project is said to ‘change the face of the city of Varanasi’. In this context, a video showing a beautiful temple illuminated by lights is circulating on social media. Netizens claim that this video shows the newly renovated Kashi Vishwanath Temple.

The caption of the post mentions, “New look of Kashi Vishwanath Temple. #NewIndia.” (sic)

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Fact Check-

We started our investigation by going through the comments of the viral post where users have stated that this is not the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi but it is the Somnath Temple in Gujarat.

Taking the lead, we visited the website and other social media handles of the Somnath Temple in Gujarat. We found that the verified handle of Somnath Temple has uploaded a similar video. The caption of the video mentions, “Diwali Special Decoration At Shree Somnath Temple”

Next, we came across the exact same video uploaded by an Instagram user on March 11 this year. The caption of the video mentions that it shows the Somnath Temple. This makes it clear that the video is not a recent one since it is available on the internet from March this year.

Next, we compared images uploaded on the official website of the Somnath Temple and the screenshot of viral video. One can clearly see the similarities in both the images.

Next, Fact Crescendo contacted the Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust, who confirmed to us that the viral video in circulation does not shows the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. There has been no big changes made to the temple. 

Further, Fact Crescendo Gujarat contacted a local journalist Paresh Solanki, who confirmed that this is the photo of Somnath temple and not Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi. He also sent us an image of the Somnath Temple that was captured by him last year. You can see the image below.

Conclusion- 

Fact Crescendo found that the viral video in circulation does not show the newly renovated Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi. The video shows the Somnath temple in Gujarat. The Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor project is yet to be inaugurated by PM Modi in December 2021. There has been no major changed made in the Kashi Vishwanath temple. The viral claim is False.