CLAIM
A photo of Amritsar’s Golden Temple has gone viral with a claim that it shows the famous gurudwara on Diwali evening, lit up by sky lanterns instead of fireworks.
The message being shared with the photo is the following: “Absolute heaven...Golden temple Amritsar..no fire works but lanterns in the sky reflected in the sarovar surrounding the gurudwara.. Amazing view...(sic)”
The photo was being shared widely on Twitter in the last few days, in the run up to Diwali, which was on 27 October.
The photo was also being shared on Facebook with the same claim.
WHAT’S THE TRUTH?
The viral photo is not real and has been photoshopped to make it seem that there are sky lanterns over Golden Temple, lighting it up. The photo has been created by an artist who has publicly stated that the image is a piece of art and does not claim to show the reality.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
On conducting a reverse image search on the viral photo, we came across the original photo on a website. There are no sky lanterns in this photo.
According to the text along with the photo, it was captured on a particular Diwali, when Golden Temple was “draped with lights.”
Here is a comparison of both the photos together.
In the viral photo (on the left), we can see three people at the edge of the sarovar, illuminated by a bright light. The same three people can be seen in the original photo, in the same position.
In the below comparison, we can see the same spot in the midst of the crowd which is lit up by diyas or candles. Moreover, the same man in a blue shirt and black trousers can be seen at the edge of the photo.
Therefore, it is clear that there were no sky lanterns over Golden Temple on the day this photograph was captured. Moreover, the article on the website is dated to September 2016, making it clear that it does not even show Golden Temple on Diwali 2019.
Next, since the image of the lanterns were reminiscent of a popular stock image or wallpaper, we ran a search for photos of ‘sky lantern wallpaper’. As a result, we came across multiple photos which resembled almost exactly the lanterns and their placement in the viral photo.
On continuing this search, we were led to a number of Getty photos of the same kind, which explained that this scene was from a festival held in Thailand, called Yi Peng Sky Lantern Festival, a festival held in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand on a full moon in the second month of the Lanna calendar, usually around November.
It is clear that one such image has been used to edit the original photo of the Golden Temple to create the one which has now gone viral.
Moreover, on looking carefully at the viral photo, it is possible to see a watermark which says that the creator of the image is a person by the name of Navkaran Brar. Brar had tweeted a similar photo in 2018, with Diwali wishes. In this photo too, the lanterns and their reflection can be seen.
We checked his Instagram profile as well and found that he had recently re-shared the photo as part of a giveway contest. In the caption along with the post, he makes it clear that this is a piece of art and not an original photo.
As additional proof that this is not real, here’s his tweet from October 2017 when the photo first went viral, taking credit for the artwork.
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