Social media posts falsely claim that the seer of Sri Sringeri Sharada Peetham did not bless Rahul Gandhi and former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah due to their alleged anti-Hindu stance.
BOOM found no evidence to support the claim that the Sringeri mutt seer refused to bless Rahul Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi and Siddaramaiah had visited the Sringeri mutt on March 21, 2018 ahead of the Karnataka assembly elections and offered prayers at the Sharadamba temple.
The posts feature a photo of Rahul Gandhi sitting in front of Sringeri mutt seer Bharathi Theertha Swami. The caption accompanying the photo reads: Jagadguru Shankaracharya of Sringeri Peeth refused to bless Rahul and Siddaramaiah (CM of Karnataka). Jagadguru said "You have come to the Math, thank you. But, after what you are doing, we cannot bless you."
The claim has been shared on Facebook and Twitter.
An archive of the post can be accessed here.
An archive of the tweet can be accessed here.
An archive of the tweet can be accessed here.
BOOM also received the claim on our WhatsApp helpline number.
Fact Check
Upon doing a reverse image search on the photo, BOOM found numerous reports from March 2018 on Rahul Gandhi and Siddaramaiah's visit to the the mutt.
The Deccan Herald reported that "Rahul called on the mutt seer Bharathi Theertha Swamiji at the Narasimhavana and received his blessings."
The Press Trust of India also reported that Gandhi sought the seer's blessings during his visit.
The Karnataka Congress tweeted photos from Gandhi's visit and stated that the seer blessed the Congress leader.
One of the photos tweeted by the handle shows the seer blessing an offering Gandhi makes.
BOOM also found a screenshot of an undated newspaper clipping where the administrator of the mutt refuted claims that Gandhi was snubbed by the seer.
The report quoted mutt administrator VR Gowrishankar as saying, "The meeting between the seer and the leaders was very cordial. It was a spiritual event. It is a tradition here never to talk about politics with devotees. Some rumour mongers are spreading lies which are higly condemnable. We are contemplating a police complaint.
