Palm reader misidentified as former Indonesian president Joko Widodo at Indian temple

Published on February 17, 2026 at 10:39
3 min read
By Sachin BAGHEL, AFP India

Leaders of foreign countries have visited the famous Tirupati-Tirumala Temple in southern India, but a video shared by Indian media outlets does not show former Indonesian president Joko Widodo going to the Hindu temple in January 2026. The man in the footage is actually a palm reader, while Indonesia's embassy in New Delhi clarified the former head of the Southeast Asian country has never visited the temple.

"Former Indonesian president Joko Widodo came to Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh, for a pilgrimage," reads a Hindi-language X post shared on January 30, 2026, with an attached video showing a man being led into a temple complex.

The clip contains the watermark and logo of Indian outlet Times Now Varthalu, which published a similar video on January 29.

"Indonesian President Joko Widodo at Tirumala," reads the caption of the video report.

Another outlet used a different video showing the same scene.

Screenshot of the false post taken on February 16 with a red X added by AFP

The Tirupati-Tirumala temple is situated in Andhra Pradesh, a state in the southern part of India.

Its website lists past visits from leaders from other countries, including President Dharambeer Gokhool of Mauritius and Sri Lanka's former president Mahinda Rajapaksa (archived here and here).

The video also spread alongside similar claims elsewhere on X, Facebook, and Instagram.

But the Indonesian Embassy in Delhi rejected the claim and the video shows a Bali-based palm reader.

The embassy said on its official X account on February 2 that the claim is "factually inaccurate" (archived link).

"The Former President of Indonesia, Mr. Joko Widodo, has NEVER made a visit to the Lord Venkateswara Temple in Tirumala at any point during or after his term in office," the post said.

Indonesian media also reported the former president -- also known as Jokowi -- met the United Arab Emirates's ambassador to Indonesia on January 29, the day when Indian media outlets reported on his supposed visit to the temple (archived here).

Jokowi's official Instagram account also posted about the meeting, which took place at the former president's residence in Surakarta, a city on the Indonesian island of Java (archived link).

Palm reader

A search on the facial-recognition tool PimEyes using a keyframe from the clip shows the man is actually a Bali-based palm reader named Agus Sihman, with pictures on his website matching the man seen in the false video (archived link).

He also uploaded pictures and videos of his visit to India on Facebook, where he can be seen wearing the same golden headband and accompanied by the same man (archived here and here).

Comparison of the man in the false video (L) and Agus in a picture shared on his Facebook page

Comparison of the man next to Agus in the false video (L) and the same person seen in a video on his social media account

AFP visited his listed address in Bali, but the house was closed.

A neighbour, Wayan, told AFP that he was confident the man in the video is Agus, pointing to the distinctive golden crown as a key detail.

"Yes, that's him. The golden ornaments on his head -- that's what makes me certain," he said.

The Tirupati-Tirumala temple has not responded to an AFP request for comment. Its website has not listed a visit from the former Indonesian president (archived link).

AFP has previously debunked misinformation about prominent figures from other countries visiting India's holy sites.

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