A March 2026 video of a clash between priests and devotees at Kolhapur’s Jyotiba Temple is being falsely shared online as a recent communal incident at Mahalakshmi Temple in Kolhapur.
The Claim:
The video is being shared on X with the communal claim that 20 priests at Kolhapur's Mahalakshmi Temple assaulted a “desert gang” for allegedly bringing beef and chanting “Allah Akbar,” after they attempted to hurl beef at devotees.
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What we Found:
Priest and devotees clash at Kolhapur temple in March 2026
We ran a reverse image search on the keyframes and found that the original video is from March 26, 2026, when a clash occurred at the Jyotiba Temple in Kolhapur. In the video, around 15-20 priests were seen kicking and punching devotees. The fight allegedly began after a small group of devotees acted in an unruly manner.
2) Local Police denies communal angle
BOOM spoke to a police officer from the Kodoli Police Station, who said that the clash occurred between the priests of the Jyotiba Temple and local devotees and denied any involvement of Muslims in the fight.
According to reports, the temple administration alleges that the fight broke out because devotees interrupted the aarti and hurled gulaal at the priests. Some priests also claimed that their traditional turbans were knocked off in the ensuing clash.
The situation escalated, and the priests purportedly dragged the accused devotees through the temple complex.
Marathi daily news outlet Sakal News has reported on this incident as well.
