Old image from temple festival shared as Hindu Makkal Katchi protest in Chennai.

Byline- This is an old image taken at Parthasarathy Temple in Chennai during the Brahmotsavam festival in 2012.

The ‘Hindu Makkal Katchi’ (HMK-Hindu People’s Party, also pronounced as Indu Makkal Katchi (IMK), is a right-wing, Hindu nationalist party of Tamil Nadu) organised a protest march in Chennai on 3 November 2024, demanding protection to Brahmins and prevention of attacks on the Brahmin community. Leaders from various Hindu organisations gathered at Rajarathinam Stadium in Chennai and participated in this event. They spoke about the issues faced by Brahmins, especially in Tamil Nadu. 

Amidst this, we have noticed an image of a large group of Brahmins marching down the street is going viral on social media. The users who share the image claims that it shows the protest march. The caption states, “IMK’s powerful protest and meeting, standing up against the relentless verbal abuse directed at Brahmins for decades, has been entirely blacked out by TN Dravidian media”.

Let’s check the truth

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Fact Check- 

We started our investigation by conducting a reverse image search on Google and the results led us to a similar image uploaded on stock image website Flickr.com. The website states that the image was taken on 10 May 2012, and that it was uploaded on 14 February 2013. 

The description part mentions that the image was taken at the Parthasarathi temple in Tiruvallikeni, Chennai, during the Brahmotsava Car festival. 

The car festival was part of the 10-day annual Brahmotsavam festival of the temple. The temple Car takes a ride into the streets from the temple. 

When we searched, we found similar images of this festival were available on the internet.

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When comparing this image to the one that has gone viral, it is clear that the people in the front are same in both. 

Taking account of these evidences, we can understand that an old image from temple festival shared as Hindu Makkal Katchi protest in Chennai.

Conclusion- 

Fact crescendo found the claim made along with the viral image to be False. This is an old image taken at Parthasarathy Temple in 2012 during the Brahmotsavam. It has no link to the protest in Chennai