Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath recently dismissed viral visuals claiming to be of a demolition near Varanasi’s Manikarnika Ghat as "fake". However, while several images shared by opposition leaders are indeed old or unrelated, BOOM has verified that at least two visuals in the viral collage are authentic visuals of a recent demolition involving a Hindu shrine, also called "madhi".
On January 9, the centuries-old lanes near Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi witnessed a demolition operation that quickly spiralled into a public outcry. The controversy centered around a collage of five images circulating on social media showing crumbling structures of a temple and photographs of displaced and damaged idols.
These visuals were amplified by prominent leaders with massive followings, including Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and Congress MP Pappu Yadav, among others, who shared this specific collage to claim that ancient temples were being razed.
The backlash prompted immediate intervention from the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, who rushed to Varanasi to denounce the viral content as 'misinformation' in a press conference. Labeling the images as “absurd and fake,” he accused the Congress party of weaponising AI-generated videos to sow discord.
Following this, the Varanasi police registering an FIR against Singh, Yadav and six others, specifically for sharing this misleading collage.
BOOM analysed the five distinct images in the viral collage and found that while three images are indeed old or unrelated, two document a verified demolition of a shrine, which authorities have been reluctant to acknowledge.
Some Of The Images Were Indeed Old Or Unrelated
Our investigation found that three of the images in the collage are indeed misleading, validating parts of the administration's stance.
The image in the bottom-right corner, showing men handling a pile of broken Shivlings, was confirmed by Dhananjay, a social activist residing at Raja Ghat, to be unrelated to the current operation. A reverse image search traced this photo back to an Amar Ujala report from December 20, 2018. It documented an incident in the Rohit Nagar Vistar area (under the Lanka police station jurisdiction), where 125 broken Shivlings were discovered on a plot, sparking protests at the time—years before the current demolition.
Similarly, the top-right image of a fallen tree crushing a structure is being falsely linked to the January 10 operation. BOOM traced this image to a News18 report from April 28, 2021. It captures an accident during the construction of the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor where an Akshayvat tree fell, a mishap the Mahant family blamed on the negligence of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple administration and the PAC.
BOOM identified the structure shown in the bottom-left of the collage as the Kumbh Mahadev temple within the Vishwanath Corridor. Reporter Vishal Yadav, visited the site, while reporting for BOOM, and found the temple completely intact.
Police Commissioner Mohit Agrawal, who also inspected the site, dismissed the viral image of the damaged temple as AI-generated.
Verified Footage of the ‘Shrine ’ Demolition
However, labelling the entire collage as "fake" ignores the verified demolition of a specific structure known as Madhi, or a shrine.
BOOM verified two specific visuals in the collage that the police included in their FIR, finding them to be authentic records of the January 9 demolition.
One image in the top-left of the collage depicts a hydraulic rock hammer dismantling a structure. We traced the keyframes to a video uploaded on January 12 by the Instagram account 'Bindas Banaras', run by local content creator Ganesh. Dhananjay confirmed to BOOM that this footage is real and depicts the demolition of the shrine near the ghat.
The bottom-centre image, showing the disfigured head of an idol amidst stones, serves as a screenshot from a video posted by the page “Gupt Kashi Yatra” on January 11. The page operator, Pandit Shivam Sharma, went on record alleging that the Manikarnika Development Plan was being used to demolish idols and shrines. In the video, he directly criticises the Prime Minister while showing the rubble.
Despite the Chief Minister's claims of AI fabrication, both Pandit Shivam Sharma and Ajay Sharma have publicly stood by their footage, asserting the videos of the demolished shrine and idols are authentic.
Locals and Holkar family Corroborate The Shrine Demolition
The destruction of the shrine was further corroborated by the Khasgi Trust, an organization operated by the family of Queen Ahilyabai Holkar.
Yashwantrao Holkar, President of the Khasgi Trust accused authorities of demolishing the shrine and its idols, demanding an immediate investigation.
The Trust later issued a statement confirming that Holkar visited the site where the displaced idols were moved. The Trust also released a pre-demolition photograph of the shrine to prove its existence.
Further corroboration comes from a live video shared by Punit Jaitly, known locally as 'Pagal Baba', on January 9. The video captures the demolition in real-time, showing artwork and idols fixed to the walls being brought down. Eyewitnesses in the video can be heard lamenting that idols of Shiva and Ahilyabai were buried under the debris.
There was a shrine
BOOM geolocated the shrine using archived Google Street View footage and old YouTube videos of Jalasen Ghat.
Now there is sand and soil in place of the shrine
Our reporter Vishal Yadav verified the demolition on the ground and local residents confirmed the destruction of the shrine.
We analyzed old photos of the shrine available on Alamy and Reddit. From this, we learned that the shrine contained a Shivling and several sculptures in both seated and standing postures. The Khasgi Trust claimed on social media that only two of these sculptures have been recovered.
Advocate Rishi Jhingran, who comes to bathe at Manikarnika Ghat, said he spent his entire childhood there. He confirmed that the shrine had several sculptures, some standing and some seated and some of them were damaged during the demolition. However, he added that only the administration can say how many of them were broken.
Recovered Sculptures photo shared by Khasgi Trust
When BOOM contacted Varanasi District Magistrate Satyendra Kumar and the ADM City to question them about the damaged idols and the specific demolition of the shrine, both officials refused to comment.
