A video of a young man lighting a cigarette using a lamp inside a temple is going viral on social media with the claim that a Muslim man did this at the Ranamandala Anjaneya Swamy Temple in Adoni, Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh.
Let’s check the truth.
Fact check:
We started our investigation with a keyword and reverse image search on Google, and the results led us to a report published by The Times of India on 8 July 2026. As per the report, the video is from 2022, and the person lighting the cigarette was identified as Vaddee Eranna. The video was reportedly recorded when Eranna visited the Shiva temple located on Ranamandal hill in Adoni with three friends during his Class 10 supplementary examination in 2022.
Another report states that a case was recently registered after the old video resurfaced and went viral on social media. Based on a complaint lodged by Boya Shivaraju, the Gowlipeta police registered a case against Vaddee Eranna under Section 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.
For more clarification, we reached out to Adoni One Town Police Station, and a police officer confirmed that the young man was Hindu and denied any communal angle in this case.
The fact-checking wing of the Andhra Pradesh government also identified the person in the video as Vadde Eranna and clarified that the video is old. It stated that the footage was being recirculated on social media with the potential to provoke religious sentiments among the public.
Taking account of all these details, we can understand that an old video of a man lighting a cigarette from a sacred lamp in a temple in Andhra Pradesh is revived with a false communal claim.
Conclusion
Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the video to be Misleading. This video dates back to 2022, and the man seen lighting the cigarette was identified as Vaddee Eranna, a Hindu youth.
Title: Old video of man lighting cigarette from temple lamp shared with a false communal angle
Fact Check By: Usha Manoj
Result: Misleading
