Video from Dehradun peddled as Lord Ram’s image displayed at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk

What is the claim?

A video is going viral on social media with the claim that it shows a picture of Lord Ram displayed on the clock tower at Srinagar’s popular square Lal Chowk ahead of the consecration ceremony of the new Ram temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh on January 22. One such user on Facebook shared the video (archived here) with a caption that roughly translates to, “Today, our revered Lord Shri Ram ji is seated at the Lal Chowk of Srinagar where even the tricolor flag was never hoisted.” 

The video is also being shared on X (formerly Twitter) with similar claims and archived versions of such posts can be viewed here, here, and here.

Screenshots of the viral claim circulating online.
(Source: X/Facebook/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

What are the facts?

A reverse image search of the viral clip led us to a YouTube video uploaded on the channel ‘WHEELS_ON_AIR’ on January 15. This YouTube video shows the same clock tower seen in the viral clip along with a similar photo of the Hindu deity projected on the structure.  The voiceover heard in the video says in Hindi that people can spot Lord Ram on the clock tower. Another similar video posted on YouTube by the channel ‘SUBHASH CHAUDHARY VLOGS’ showed the same tower and the same image of Lord Ram. According to the title and description of the second video, the tower seen in the video is from Dehradun, the capital of the north Indian state of Uttarakhand. In the two videos, we can also spot cars bearing number plates starting with UK, which is the registration code for Uttarakhand.

Hindustan Times reported on January 18 that Lord Ram’s pictures were displayed on the clock tower in Dehradun city on January 17. The report also included a video shared by news agency ANI that shared similar details. 

Logically Facts also geolocated the clock tower in Dehradun, located in the Ghantaghar area, on Google Maps. The 360° view of the tower helped us deduce that the geographical location and the structure of the tower are the same as seen in the viral clip.

Comparison between the viral clip and Google Maps visuals. (Source: X/Google Maps/Screenshot)

We also searched for Srinagar’s Lal Chowk clock tower on Google Maps and found that the structure of the tower and the area around it differ significantly from what is seen in the viral clip.

Comparison between the clock tower in Lal Chowk and Dehradun’s clock tower. (Source: Google Maps/Screenshot)

Additionally, there are no news reports on Lord Ram’s images displayed over the Lal Chowk clock tower in Srinagar.

Therefore, the above evidence establishes that the clock tower in the viral clip is located in Dehradun and not in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk.

The verdict

The video of a clock tower in Dehradun has been falsely shared as the clock tower at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk projecting Lord Ram’s pictures. Therefore, we have marked the claim as false.