Claim: Viral clip claims that a church has been converted to a Narasimha temple in Europe.
Conclusion: Misrepresentation. The site is the Paranitya Narasimha Temple in Elmira, New York, that was previously ‘Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church’. It has been legally purchased and repurposed by the Hindu Bhakti Marga community.
Rating: Misrepresentation — 
Several social media users are sharing a clip alleging that a Narasimha temple has been built in Europe. Verified X user ‘TheEarthSoul1’ made such a claim with the caption: UNO REVERSE. CHURCH in Europe converted to Narsimha Temple. Accompanied with it is a video of about 82 seconds with a layered text, “Church in Europe converted to Narsimha Temple’. The post gained around 205,000 views and can be viewed below –
UNO REVERSE 😂
CHURCH in Europe converted to Narsimha Temple🙏 pic.twitter.com/TjJtkIPOXF
— The Earth Soul (@TheEarthSoul1) December 8, 2025
Other users also shared the same image/video with a claim in Hindi. When translated to English, it reads: “All the Christian people of a village in Europe adopted Sanatan, so one church there was converted into a Narasimha temple, No one was lured or threatened, Only when they realized that Sanatan is the truth, did everyone become Sanatanis”🙏
यूरोप के एक गांव के सभी ईसाई लोगों ने सनातन अपना लिया तो वहां की एक चर्च को नरसिंह मंदिर में परिवर्तित किया गया
किसी को कोई लालच नहीं दिया ना किसी को डर दिखाया
सिर्फ जब उन्होंने जाना कि सनातन ही सत्य है तो सब लोग सनातनी बन गए🙏 pic.twitter.com/lTMwq4kgaH
— Ocean Jain (@ocjain4) December 8, 2025
Another user also shared similar claim which can be seen here.
FACT CHECK
DigitEYE India decided to investigate this claim and found that it is a clear case of misrepresentation. The temple is not in Europe; rather it is the Paranitya Narasimha Temple in Elmira, New York. The Hindu Bhakti Marga community has refurbished the erstwhile ‘Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church’ legally and made it into a temple.
Details:
We first conducted a reverse image search from various keyframes of the video to learn about the claim. The search took us to an Instagram post made on 3rd September 2023 by ‘paramahamsa_vishwananda’ in collaboration with ‘bhaktimarga_america’. The caption of the post “Love, Joy & Enthusiasm: Auspicious Temple Inauguration in Elmira – Day 1”. View Video and a screenshot of it below –
View this post on Instagram
Following this, we also came across an Instagram post by Bhaktimarga America made on 11th June 2024. A video of darshan is attached and the caption says: “This amazing moment was the first ever Darshan of Paranitya Narasimha at the Paranitya Narasimha Temple Inauguration in Elmira, New York.”
After getting these clues, we conducted a keyword search with the phrase “Bhaktimarga temple church grounds” to learn more. Among the results, a report published by MyTwinTiers cropped up that said, “Bhakti Marga, a Germany-based spiritual movement with roots in Hinduism, bought the former Our Lady of Lourdes parish in West Elmira in January. The parish closed in the fall of 2021.”
The report further notes how the group has been renovating the interior and keeping various features of the church to honour it. View a section of the report below –
This was confirmed by another report from Star Gazette that states: “The Bhakti Marga neo-Hindu organization, based in Germany, purchased the former Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church at 1100 W. Water St. in January 2022 and officially reopened the building under the new name, Paranitya Narasimha Temple, in September 2023.” When we searched the exact location of the Paranitya Narasimha Temple on the map, the address was indeed “1100 W Church St, Elmira, NY 14905, United States” View a screenshot below –
Thus, the claim is a case of misrepresentation.
Read More :
