While tens of thousands of fervent Hindus celebrated the opening of the Ram Mandir, which was constructed on the site of the destroyed Babri Mosque in Ayodhya, a picture of the god Ram on Dubai’s Burj Khalifa went popular on social media and sparked a heated online discussion.
With ‘Jai Shri Ram’ emblazoned on top and the Hindu deity Ram dressed like a guru, the image of the illuminated Burj Khalifa received over two million views.
Many circulated the image, asserting its veracity, while others questioned its veracity. People discussed whether or not the image was altered while expressing amazement.
Google reverse image search results, however, showed that the Burj Khalifa was photographed in a similar setting without Ram projected.
The image turned out to be a fiction, even though there were accusations that it was digitally altered rather than photoshopped. There were no posts of such projections on the Burj Khalifa’s official social media pages, where happy occasions are usually publicized.
This event was comparable to one that happened in April 2023 when it was discovered that a widely shared photograph was phony. Ayodhya Ram Mandir’s doors opened to the public one day following the consecration, drawing a sizable throng of devotees.
