Drone footage of Delhi's Akshardham temple passed off as Ram temple in Ayodhya

What is the claim?

A video purportedly showing the Ram temple in Ayodhya, supposedly captured after the consecration ceremony on January 22, 2024, has been circulating on social media. Shared as Instagram and Facebook reels, the video features an aerial view of a temple structure captured from various angles. 

While sharing the video, several users have inserted an actual photo of the Ram temple at the bottom of the screen, implying that the video depicts the same temple. Archived versions of these posts can be accessed here and here.

A screenshot of an Instagram post sharing the viral video. (Source: Instagram/Modified by Logically Facts)

One Assamese Facebook page, News Assam 24X7, shared the video with the caption, "Beautiful visuals following the consecration of the Ram temple (translated from Assamese)."

A screenshot of a Facebook post sharing the viral video. (Source: Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

Similar footage of the temple has also been shared on YouTube with analogous claims.

However, upon investigation, it was discovered that the video actually shows the Akshardham temple in Delhi, not the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.

What is the truth?

A reverse image search of a keyframe from the video led to a drone video on YouTube, uploaded on June 19, 2023, depicting the Akshardham temple in New Delhi.

Additionally, a video from a story titled "7 Amazing Facts about Akshardham temple, Delhi" on the website wearedelhi.in showed the same temple. Comparing the surroundings in both videos confirmed they depicted the same structure.

Comparisons of screenshots of the viral video and the video shared by wearedelhi.in. (Source: Facebook/wearedelhi.in/Screenshots)

Taking a cue from this, we searched for the Akshardham temple in Delhi on the stock photo website Adobe Stock. We found several similar aerial clips resembling the temple in the viral video.

Comparisons of screenshots of the viral video and Adobe Stock video. (Source: Instagram/Adobe Stock/Screenshots)

Moreover, geolocation confirmed that the Akshardham temple is indeed situated in Noida Mor, Pandav Nagar, New Delhi. The Google Maps view of the temple matched the temple seen in the viral video.

A Google Maps view of the Akshardham temple in New Delhi. (Source: Google Maps/Screenshot)

The verdict

The viral video depicts the Akshardham temple in New Delhi and was falsely claimed to show the newly inaugurated Ram temple in Ayodhya. This claim has been marked as false.