Video of Temple Demolition in Mysuru Falsely Shared as Incident from Tamil Nadu

The video shows a temple being demolished in Nanjangud of Mysuru district in Karnataka.

The video claims that it shows a temple being demolished in Tamil Nadu. 

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

(Editor's Note: The story was first published on 15 September 2021 and is being republished from The Quint's archives in the light of the video recirculating with a claim that it shows a temple being demolished in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi.)

A video of a temple being demolished is shared on social media with the claim that the incident took place in the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) led state, Tamil Nadu.

However, we have found the video shows the demolition of a temple in Nanjangud in Mysuru, Karnataka, following the Supreme Court's order to demolish illegal structures.

CLAIM

The video is being shared with the claim that reads: "Another Hindu temple has destroyed in the Taliban ruled Tamil Nadu. (sic)"

An archive of the tweet can be found here.

Several social media users have shared the same video and the archived links can be seen here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND

We found several social media users also sharing the same video saying it is from Nanjangud, Karnataka.

Taking cue from here, we looked for any news reports about the incident and searched on Google and found one by The News Minute on 12 September.

The article read that the Mysuru district administration demolished the temple following Supreme Court's orders, which directed to demolish several illegal structures, including religious structures.

The administration also said that the temple was not an age-old structure as claimed, but one that is only 12 years old and doesn't come under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

The incident had sparked a political war in Karnataka with the Opposition saying that the move by the district administration has hurt religious sentiments, while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stating the Opposition was communalising the demolition, that was being carried out as per court's directives.

The temple demolition in Mysuru.

Next, we also looked for videos on YouTube and in one report by India Today published on 13 September, we can see the same visuals from 0:28-0:30 seconds.

We also found the video on TV9 Kannada and the visuals can be seen from from 1:58-2:03 minutes.

We also compared the visuals and one can see the similarities.

Screengrab from viral video (L), Screengrab from India Today video (R).

Clearly, a video of a temple demolition in Mysuru, Karnataka is being circulated as from Tamil Nadu.

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