Viral Video Of PM Modi visit Sabarimala is wrong

Viral video shows Kerala Governor visiting Sabarimala Temple not PM Modi

A video of a man performing religious rituals is being shared with the claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently visited the Sabarimala temple in Kerala and offered prayers.

Claim: Viral video shows PM Modi offering prayers at Sabarimala Temple.

Fact check

Newschecker, upon inspecting the viral video, although blurry, could not ascertain that the individual is Prime Minister Narendra Modi, raising our doubts. We ran a keyword search for “Modi Sabarimala”, which did not throw up any relevant results indicating a recent visit of the PM.

We, however, noticed a watermark, reading M7 News. We then ran a corresponding keyword search for “M7 News Sabarimala”, which led us to this Youtube video, a clearer version of the viral clip, dated December 5, 2022, titled “HE Arif Muhammed Khan, Kerala Governor at Sabarimala: Dharshan”. According to the description of the video, “Arif Muhammed Khan, Kerala Governor had Dharshan of Swami Ayyappan at Iyyappan Kovil Sabarimala, with Irumudi via 18 steps. A quiet visit to see and worship the Deity in Kerala, India. M7 News TV of Kerala coverage was forwarded by a friend Ganesh Tower Mani Annan. Originally believed to be PM Modi, it was later clarified that resemblance, from a distance, led to the error.”

 

Taking a cue from this, we ran a keyword search for “Arif Khan Sabarimala”, which threw up multiple news reports and videos, dated April 11 and April 12, 2021, of the Kerala governor offering prayers at the temple. They can be seen here, confirming that the person in the viral video is Kerala governor Arif Muhammed Khan.

Fact: A video of Kerala governor Arif Mohammed Khan’s visit to Sabarimala in 2021 falsely claimed to be PM Narendra Modi offering prayers at the temple.