Man-Made Sculpture Viral As Huge Shaligram Stone Found After Nepal Flood

Several photos and videos of a massive Shaligram sculpture have been shared online with the false claim that the stone was discovered after Nepal was hit by a devastating flash flood on August 26, 2026.

In Hindu tradition, Shaligram stones are regarded as a sacred representation of Lord Vishnu. The visuals are therefore being shared alongside various religious claims.

BOOM found that the viral visuals show a man-made sculpture created under the supervision of the Nepal Academy of Fine Arts. The inauguration predates the glacial floods in Nepal.

The Claim

The visuals of the stone are being widely shared on social media with claims that it is a Shaligram stone, believed to be a sacred manifestation of Lord Vishnu, formed millions of years ago and recently discovered in flood-affected Nepal.

Zee News also reported on the viral photo of the massive stone, with a Hindi caption that translates to, “The flood revealed the secret: a 170-million-year-old Shaligram was found."

What We Found: The ‘Giant Shaligram Stone’ Was Sculpted, Not Discovered

1. Nepalese Media Reports on the Shaligram Sculpture: We first ran a reverse image search on the viral visual and found a June 30, 2026, report by Nepalese outlet Online Khabar featuring a similar visual. It stated that the 22-foot-tall Shaligram Shila sculpture was carved into a rock on the bank of the Kali Gandaki River in Jomsom, Ward 4 of Gharapjhong Rural Municipality.

Nepal Television also reported that the sculpture was inaugurated on May 28, 2026, by Jagadguru Shankaracharya Mahaswami Vidhushekhara Bharati Maharaj, head of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham in Karnataka, during his pilgrimage to Muktinath.

We then searched in Nepali and found an April 23, 2026, report by eMustang News quoting Dileshwar Mahato, head of the Sculpture Department at the Nepal Academy of Fine Arts. He said the Shaligram sculpture was being carved from a massive, hard rock beside the Kali Gandaki River. On April 23, 2026, Nepal Raibar TV reported visuals of the stone being carved into the world’s largest Shaligram statue.

2. Geolocation of the area: We checked Google Street View and found that the 2025 imagery matches the location shown in the viral visual, including the large stone in the valley. A comparison of the viral visual and the Street View imagery is shown below.

A closer look at the location shows that the sculpture is in Jomsom, hundreds of kilometres away from the areas impacted by the recent flash floods in Nepal. Reuters reported that the August 26 disaster struck the Trishuli Valley, near Nepal’s border with China, where major flooding wiped out towns and villages and left thousands of people dead, missing or displaced.