A set of three images showing numerous earthen lamps placed on a river bank is being misleadingly linked to the Deepotsav 2021, that was celebrated in Ayodhya recently. The images are viral on social media with a claim that it shows how Ayodhya entered the Guinness Book of World Records for lighting 12 lakh diyas on the occasion.
According to news reports, out of 12 lakh diyas, 9,51,000 earthen lamps were lit on the bank of Saryu river in Ayodhya on the occasion of Deepotsav while 50,000 diyas were lit at the Ram temple site and the rest were lit in other temples across the state. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath also tweeted about UP Tourism creating a Guinness World Record by lighting more than 9 lakh diyas in Ayodhya. On November 3, The Department of Tourism along with the Uttar Pradesh government and Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University (All India) entered the world record during Deepotsav 2021.
The caption with the photos in Bengali translates to, "Ramnagari Ayodhya is decorated using 9 lakh 51 thousand lamps, setting a world record. Jay Shri Ram."
(Original Text in Bengali: বিশ্বরেকর্ড করে ৯ লাখ ৫১ হাজার প্রদীপে সেজে উঠেছে রামনগরী অযোধ্যা জয় শ্রী রাম)
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Fact Check
BOOM ran a reverse image search on the photos and found that they are old and not related to the recent Diwali celebration in Ayodhya.
Image 1
We found the same photo on The Times of India article published on October 27, 2019. The caption with the photo reads, "Devotees lit up (diyas) earthen lamps on the banks of Saryu during Deepotsav celebrations in Ayodhya on Saturday."
Source: The Times of India
The report talks about the Diwali celebration in Ayodhya in 2019.
Image 2
The second photo can be found on a The Quint report published on October 27, 2019. The caption with the photo says, "A new history was created at Ayodhya as a record 6 lakh earthen lamps lit up the Saryu river bank on the eve of Diwali." The image has been credited to The Quint's Asmita Nandy.
More than four lakh earthen lamps were lit at the ghat of Ram ki Paidhi, the article reported.
Image 3
A Hindustan Times report published on October 26, 2019 carried the photo with a caption, "Thousands of people were seen at Ram Ki Paidi which was lit up in pink purple.(Dheeraj Dhawan/ HTphoto)".
According to the report, "The three-day Deepostav celebrations began in Ayodhya on Thursday. On the second day, several cultural events were organised at Guptar Ghat and Bhajan Sthal. Artists from Indonesia and Nepal performed Ram Lila."
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