This image has been digitally manipulated to show a Hindu God on a Times Square billboard

This article is more than one year old.
Published on August 26, 2020 at 12:00
3 min read
By AFP India

An image has been shared hundreds of times in multiple Facebook posts that claim it shows a Hindu God displayed on billboards in New York’s Times Square "this morning". The claim is false; the photo has been digitally manipulated to include an image of a Hindu God.

The image was published here on Facebook on August 2, 2020.

(Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post)

The post’s caption reads: “Shri Ram being honoured at time square. Proud moment. Share, comment, Jai Shri Ram."

Times Square is a major commercial intersection and tourist destination in the Manhattan area of New York city.

Jai Shree Ram is a Hindi expression that translates to victory to Hindu Lord Rama.

The image was also shared alongside similar claims on Facebook here, here and here.

The claim, however, is false.

A Google search using the keywords ‘Times Square billboard generator’ found the exact template of the Times Square billboard on this website.

The photo has been mirrored.

Below is a screenshot comparison with some identifying features of the misleading photo (L) and billboard generator photo circled in red by AFP (R)

A reverse image search on Google found a similar photo of Times Square in New York published on this website.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the Facebook post photo (L) and wallpapertip.com photo (R):

The misleading photo has been mirrored after adding images on the billboard generator website.

The photo found on wallpapertip.com has been available on several blog posts for almost a decade, for example here in 2011 and here in 2015.

Further, one of the pictures used in the misleading post has text written on the bottom that reads as: "Alamy stock photo." The photo was published in December 2016 here on the Alamy, an online stock photography agency. The caption reads as: "Sri Vadapathira Kaliamman hindu temple. Avatar of Vishnu. Lord Rama 7th incarnation." This temple is located here in Singapore.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo in a misleading post (L) and Alamy stock photo (R):

On August 5, 2020, a model of Ram Temple, an image of Ram and the Indian flag was shown on a Times Square LED billboard, as reported here by Indian news agency ANI and here by Indian newspaper Indian Express.

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