A six-year-old 3D animation video of a Jain temple is being passed off on Facebook pages as the design for the upcoming structure of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.
BOOM traced the viral clip and found that a longer version of the video was uploaded by KEMS Studio to their YouTube channel on June 30, 2014, long before the Supreme Court of India pronounced a verdict in the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute. Moreover, the model is of a proposed Jain Temple in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh named Shree Parshwanath Navagrah 72 Jinalay Tirth.
A 26-second animated clip is being shared on Facebook and Twitter. It shows a temple from numerous angles with an overlay of a Hindi song 'Ram Rajya Ka Saara Sukh'.
The caption in Hindi translates to: "This will be the grand temple of our Lord Shree Ram. The tarpaulin is being removed from the land of my lord's birth. Ayodhya is taking an oath to build Ram Temple"
(Translated from Hindi - ऐसा होगा हमारे प्रभू #श्रीराम का भव्य मंदिर मेरे प्रभु की जन्म भूमि से तिरपाल हट रहा है, #आयोध्या करती है आह्वान ,,ठाठ से कर मंदिर निर्माण)
Also read: Photos Of ISKCON Temple Viral As Proposed Ram Temple In Ayodhya
Facebook posts can be seen below and their archived version can be seen here and here.
The animation is viral on Twitter as well.
Also read: Akhilesh Yadav Tweet Against Construction Of Ram Mandir Is Fake
Fact Check
BOOM looked closely at the viral video and found that it is different from the reported proposed structure of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
We found a few news reports consisting of the photographs of the 161 feet tall proposed Ram Temple model.
The structure of the Ram Temple is primarily based on a three-decades-old model. Recently, 20 feet has been added to the original design.
Origin of the animation
A keyword search of 'temple 3D animation' led us to a longer version of a six-year-old animation video uploaded by KEMS Studio, Mumbai to their YouTube channel. Several Jain idols can be seen in the full version of the video.
BOOM reached out to the owner of the KEMS Studio. "These viral claims are fake, it is a model for Jain temple and not that of the Ram Mandir. Even in the animation, one can see Mahavir Maharaj. This animation we created years ago for a Jain temple in Andhra Pradesh. We just uploaded as an example of our work," Kamlesh Panchal, owner of the KEMS Studio, told BOOM.
On asking whether the firm has created any animated model for the Ram Mandir project in recent times, Kamlesh said, "We are not, in any manner, linked to the Ram Mandir project in Ayodhya."
"I have seen this video doing the rounds on social media with false claims," he added. He said that he does not know whether the model temple has actually been built as his firm's work ended with the 3D animation for a temple in AP.
The video can be seen below. The exact viral clip has been cropped from the 0.50-second timestamp.
The long disputed Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri masjid case came to an end on November 9, 2019 when the Supreme Court pronounced a verdict that paved the way for the construction of a temple. The construction is expected to start on August 5, 2020, with a 'Bhoomi Pujan' ceremony.