A video and photographs of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, and his wife, Akshata Murthy, meeting a saffron-clad saint has gone viral with a claim that it shows the new PM's 'griha pravesh' ceremony at 10 Downing Street.
'Griha/Gruha Pravesh' is a Hindu ritual, where a puja ceremony is conducted when a person moves into a new house for the first time.
The claim was shared after he was selected as the leader of the Conservative party on 24 October. He was appointed the prime minister by King Charles on 25 October.
However, we found that the video and photographs were a little over two months old. Sunak and Murthy visited the ISKCON Bhaktivedanta Manor temple in Watford on 18 August on Janmashtami.
CLAIM
The caption of the video read, "Gruha-Pravesh of Rishi Sunak at 10, Downing street, as Prime minister of Britain! With complete Sanatan Hindu Rituals!(sic)".
An archive of the post can be found here.
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We conducted a reverse image search on the viral image and found news reports from August carrying the picture.
The image was shared by Sunak on his Twitter handle on 18 August with a caption that read, "Today I visited the Bhaktivedanta Manor temple with my wife Akshata to celebrate Janmashtami, in advance of the popular Hindu festival celebrating Lord Krishna’s birthday."
An archive of the post can be found here.
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
We conducted a keyword search for ISKCON Bhaktivedanta Manor temple and found details of Sunak's visit on their website, along with photographs that showed Sunak and Murthy wearing the same clothes as seen in the viral video.
Image from the temple's website showing.
(Source: Bhaktivedanta Manor/Screenshot)
We could also spot the saint and a person wearing a blue suit in the website's photographs, who were also seen in the viral video. More photographs of Sunak's visit were also shared on the temple's Instagram handle.
Sunak delivered his first speech as Britain's prime minister on Tuesday outside 10 Downing Street, however, there are no reports of the family shifting to their new residence yet.
The British Prime Minister’s home is traditionally referred to as 'number 10'.
As per a report in The Telegraph, Sunak and his family could divide their time between Downing Street the west London home, because of the proximity to their children’s school.
Evidently, an old video and old photographs of UK PM Sunak's visit to a temple in West London has gone viral as scenes from his 'gruha pravesh' at 10 Downing Street.
(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)