A video of Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, Shankaracharya of Jyotishpeeth in Uttarakhand, has surfaced with false claims that it shows him reprimanding Yogi Adityanath, Uttar Pradesh's chief minister, for the stampede in Kumbh.
BOOM found that the video shows Shankaracharya interacting with a Gujarati news outlet Jamawat on a video call and not Yogi Adityanath.
In the viral video, Shankaracharya can be heard saying in Hindi, "You had said I have made all the arrangements, so where did your arrangements go, your Kumbh also is similar to the previous Kumbh (melas). Your Kumbh should have been special, you were saying I have made all the arrangements. You were saying that 40 crores are going to come and I have made arrangement for 100 crores...when only 40 crores are coming in an arrangement meant for 100 crores, then why are your arrangements failing?"
The video has been shared by Tripura Pradesh Youth Congress with the caption, “To Yogi Adityanath on video call Shankaracharya ji reprimanded.”
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Fact Check
BOOM first ran keyword searches for news articles related to the video call interaction between Shankaracharya and Yogi, but did not find any credible reports.
The video has an 'Exclusive Chauchak Media’ watermark on it and a logo at the end of the clip. We then found the video on the YouTube channel of Chauchak Media.
The video was uploaded on February 5, 2025 with the description, "Shankaracharya was seen scolding on video call, made Yogi Adityanath realise the mistake.” It however did not clarify whether Shankaracharya was speaking to Yogi Adityanath.
Viral Video Is A Part Of An Interview
We also found that several users pointed out that the video is part of an interview with a news outlet. Taking a hint, we ran a keyword search for recent interviews given by Shankaracharya and found a 13-minute long video on a Gujarati news channel called ‘Jamawat’. Shankaracharya can be seen making the same remarks as seen in the viral video when asked about stampedes happening in Kumbh gatherings.
At the 6:07 timestamp, Shankaracharya criticises the administration and the chaos in Maha Kumbh this year.
Confirmation From The Media Channel
Journalist Devanshi Joshi from Jamawat took the interview and it premiered on YouTube on February 3. Jamawat team told BOOM,, "This conversation is part of our interview. We had interviewed Shankaracharya on phone. It is being shared in the wrong context."
Journalist Devanshi Joshi, who interviewed Shankaracharya, also refuted the viral claim on X. She wrote, "During the recording of my interview, someone present there must have recorded it and used it to spread fake news."
