A photo of a group of people sitting in rows on the floor and eating food served on banana leaves is falsely going viral as a display of Indian culture in New Zealand by people. We found that this photo is actually of a yoga ashram in Trivandrum, Kerala.
CLAIM
The photo is being shared with the caption “Importance of Bharatiya Culture in New Zealand”. Among the crowd some Indians as well as foreign nationals can be seen.
We found that this post was being massively shared on Facebook.
We also found that this post was being shared with a similar claim in September 2019.
WHAT WE FOUND
On going through the comments of the Facebook post by the user named Ravi Mukhiya, we came across a user who said that this was a photo of Sivananda Dhanwantari Ashram, Kerala.
We then ran a keyword search for this ashram and found that the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Dhanwantari Ashram, in Kerala’s Trivandrum, is a yoga retreat of sorts where people can spend some time at the ashram and have a yoga vacation, as well as take a yoga teacher’s training course.
On going through photos available of this ashram, we came across several which matched the viral photo, showing the same hall as well as people eating in the same manner, with food served on banana leaves.
We found one photo on travel website Tripadvisor which showed a similar scene and clearly stated that this was the ashram in Kerala.
We found another photo of the leaves being laid out in the same hall and food being served on the Facebook page of the ashram and on the website of the ashram.
We also found similar photos of people eating in the same hall but from plates on the ground. A photo on Tripadvisor said it was the dining hall at the ashram.
Another travel website to do with yoga also posted a photo of the same hall and said it was the Kerala ashram.
In all the photos, the same yellow pillars, the same windows and the same blue floor can be seen, showing that this is clearly not a photo of New Zealand but an ashram in Kerala where people from all countries visit.
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