Photoshopped Image of Giant Skeleton Resurfaces With Mahabharat Twist

An old image of a giant skeleton has resurfaced with a claim that the skeleton is of Ghatotkach, Bhima's son from the Mahabharata who was a half-giant, at a recent excavation at Kurukshetra.

BOOM found the image to be 9 years old and have been revived at different times with a different claim.

The image of a huge skeleton with three archaeologists examining it claimed to prove that the Mahabharat was not a fictional tale since the skeleton has the markings that fit the description of Bhima's son, Ghatotkach, who was a half-giant. The name of the excavation site of Kurukshetra, Haryana, where the battle of Mahabharata is have supposed to take place, and Ghatotkach have died, added to the post's claim.

The post says, "The leftist who say that the war of Mahabharat is imaginary, and the eternal religion is nothing. The Foreign Archaeology Department has a strong slap on their mouth. While digging near Kurukshetra, foreign archaeological experts got an 80-Foot-Length human skeleton. Who is the same as the description of the son of Bhima, Ghatotkach. And we are the people of India, Mahabharata is the story of the story. This is broadcast by discovery channel. Hail to the eternal religion, Hail Lord Rama, hail lord krishna." An archive of the post is available here.

The post is being shared by users with a similar claim. An archive of the post is available here. Twitter users have been sharing the post with a similar claim. An archive of the tweet is available here.

Fact Check

A reverse image search on the image reveals the first known trace of the image to be in 2011. The origin of the image by a graphic designer, who goes by the name 'Whitmath57.' on the website DesginCrowd. Titled "'Photoshop Submission fo 'Size Matters 4' Contest," the image also has the caption that says, "Whitmath57, an American designer, created this Photoshop on 14th August, 2011 for DesignCrowd (Community Contests), a business in Australia. The Photoshop was designed for the project 'Size Matters 4'. It was awarded 3 out of 5 stars."

The caption clearly indicates that it is a photoshopped image and not a real photograph from the excavation site.

The image has been used several times throughout the years, sometimes referred to as Goliath's skeleton by a few Christian websites(like here and here), sometimes thought of a skeleton of an alien, and sometimes referred to as a fairytale giant. But the image is definitely dated and has been used before.

Kurush, F. Dalal, archaeologist and culinary anthropologist confirmed that there are no ongoing excavations at Kurukshetra, Haryana. Dr. Vivek Dangi, Assistant Professor History, All India Jat Heroes' Memorial College, Rohtak, Haryana also confirmed that there were no ongoing excavations at Kurukshetra, Haryana.

A simple scientific principle, called the square cube law, states that the possibility of human giants existing is almost null.

The law states that as an object grows (or is shrunken down), its volume will grow faster than its surface area. This means for giant, who is double a man's size to exist, the cross-sectional area of its legs will be 4 times, and weight will be eight times. This would mean that the muscles, bones and organs would not strengthen up and hold up the body together. An example of the square cube law is Sultan Kosen, the tallest man in the world at 8-foot 3-inch, has to wear leg braces to support himself.