DigitEye India Fact Checkers
A familiar video of Tirumala temple of Lord Venkateswara is going viral on social media claiming that during the Covid 10 pandemic, with no rush of devotees, the temple provided a rare Ekantha Darshan.
*🌹💐திருப்பதி பெருமாளின் பார்க்கக்கிடைக்காத முழுமையான நேரடியான ஏகாந்த தரிசனம்.* அவசியம் தரிசனம் செய்யுங்கள். உங்கள் filesல் SAVE செய்யவேண்டிய Real video shoot at Thirupati Temple during the Corona time. *Have Dharshan & be happy. Let PerumaL bless us all. 🙏🌹* pic.twitter.com/T0QdwHJBr4
— 🪷 MЄЄƝƛ ƖƳЄƦ 🪷 (@Maha_Periyavaa) June 18, 2024
The same video has been shared on Facebook here and here.
FACT-CHECK
Digiteye India received a request on its WhatsApp to verify the claim. Taking a few keyframes from the video and conducting a Google Reverse Image Search, revealed that the video depicted not the original Tirumala Venkateswara Swamy Temple but the replica of the temple built in Alipiri that has often been shown on Sri Venkateswara Bhakti Channel during the rituals.
In fact, the Alipiri temple or Nammona Alayam (replica temple) was built by TTD in 2008 but came into prominence when the direct broadcast of Tirumala temple from inside the sanctum sanctorum of Lord Venkateswara was banned in 2016. Otherwise, the look of Alipiri temple has been built to reflect the same chandeliers, idols outside the sanctum sanctorum and pillars for the TV broadcast as seen in the viral video.
The National Geographic India has put out a video to this effect on its YouTube channel, titled “The Replica Temple? | Inside Tirumala Tirupati” in July 2023. Called ‘The Namoona Alayam’ in Telugu, meaning ‘replica temple,’ the Alipiri temple is an exact replica of the original Tirumala temple.
Hence, the claim made in the viral video is false.
Claim: The video shows the Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple in Tirumala.
Conclusion: The viral video is of the replica temple of the Tirumala-Tirupati temple located in Alipiri, not the original Lord Venkateswara’s temple located in Tirumala.
Rating: Misrepresentation — 
