Image of Trishul formation in air show at Maha Kumbh Mela concluding day goes viral; Fat-Check

Posted by: Sridevi P February 28, 2025

Social media is abuzz with an image of Trishul formation by the Indian Air Force’s air show at Prayagraj on the last day of the Maha Kumbh Mela on February 26, 2025.

The claim reads: “Pic of the Year !!! Mahadev’s TRISHUL formation by 3 Sukhoi 30 MKI aircrafts !!! Salute to #IndianAirforce 🇮🇳 जय महाकाल”.

It has been shared here and here.

FACT-CHECK

Digiteye India tried to check the authenticity of the viral claim as the image is being shared by many on social platforms. However, the team did not find such formation during the air show at the concluding session of the Maha Kumbh Mela. Here’s what the original concluding session’s air show video showed:

Further probe on Google Reverse image Search showed that an such image was being shared on Internet for a long time. Here’s a post from 2019 that shared the same image:

Further search for news reports related to the unique Trishul formation of the air show held on 26 February 2025 at the Maha Kumbh Mela site yielded no results either. Hence, this viral image was not captured during the Maha Kumbh Mela conclusion Air Show held in Prayagraj on 26 February 2025 but an old one in circulation since 2019.

Claim: This photo shows the Trishul formation made by the Indian Air Force’s aircrafts on 26 February 2025 at Prayagraj.

Conclusion: Misleading. This photo is not from the concluding event of Maha Kumbh Mela on 26 February 2025 but an old one that existed on the internet since 2019.

Rating: Misleading —

About Sridevi P

Sridevi, a business management graduate from Osmania University, Hyderabad has contributed fact-checks whenever she found time. She can be reached at psridevi@digiteye.in

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