Did Swami Avimukteshwaranand Scold UP CM Adityanath for Kumbh Stampede? No!

This video shows the sage giving an interview to a news outlet where he was criticising the arrangements at Kumbh.

Fact-Check: This claim is false as the video shows Shankaracharya giving an interview.

(Source: The Quint) 

After the stampede at the Mahakumbh Mela in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, a video featuring Swami Avimukteshwaranand, Shankaracharya of Jyotish Peeth in Uttarakhand, is being shared to claim that he scolded Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for the poor organisation at the event.

• In the clip, he spoke in Hindi, saying, "Where did your arrangements go? Then, this is like the previous Kumbh, only. How is it special? Your Kumbh had to be special, right? You said I have made all the necessary arrangements. You said forty crore are going to come but I have made arrangements for a hundred crore people."

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: X/Screenshot) 

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is the claim true?: No, the claim is false.

• The video shows the sage giving an interview to an online news outlet, Jamawat News about the preparations at the Kumbh.

• He was criticising the ill-preparations at the event which led to the stampede.

What we found: We noticed the logo, "Exclusive Chauchak News," on the viral video.

Here is the close-up of the logo.

(Source: X/Altered by The Quint) 

• We, then, located the YouTube channel of Chauchak News and found the viral video which was posted on 5 February.

• It was uploaded with the title, "Maha Kumbh 2025: Shankaracharya was seen scolding on video call | Made Yogi Adityanath realise his mistake."

• The title of the video is also slightly misleading. It insinuates that the sage was speaking to the UP CM to reprimand him.

• We, then, ran a keyword search on YouTube and found an interview of the sage with an online Gujarati news outlet, Jamawat News. It was uploaded on 3 February.

• Around 2:30 minutes into the video, the interviewer asked Shankaracharya regarding stampedes and fatalities which have happened at every Kumbh Mela and inquired why no chief minister had faced calls for resignation over these events, yet, the sage insisted on Adityanath’s resignation.

• Replying to the interviewer, Avimukteshwaranand stated that the chief minister needed to reflect on previous errors and implement measures to avert such disasters.

• Around 6:09 minutes of the video, the sage can be heard repeating the statement which was in the viral video.

Conclusion: A false claim has gone viral that Avimukteshwaranand scolded Adityanath on a video call for Kumbh mismanagement.

(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9540511818 , or e-mail it to us at [e-mail] and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)