Fact Check: Nepal has not put Gautam Buddha’s picture on its currency, viral claim is fake

New Delhi (Vishvas News): A post is going viral on the internet which claims that the Nepal government has included the picture of Gautam Buddha on its currency notes. Vishvas News investigated the viral post and found that the claim linked to the viral picture is not true. In its investigation, the Vishvas News team found that Nepal has not included the picture of Gautam Buddha on its currency and the image going viral on social media is edited.

Claim:

Facebook user Arun Jatav posted a collage of two pictures (archive link) on February 15. He wrote in the caption, “I thank the country of Nepal from the bottom of my heart. Who included Gautam Buddha in its currency. Namo Buddhay. Jai Bheem. Arun Jatav BSP.”

Other users also similar claims.

Investigation:

Vishvas News team initially did an open search at Google with relevant keywords and found old news on many websites. A news report was published by DNA India on September 9, 2013, regarding this matter. The news report stated that the Central Bank of Nepal has issued new currency notes of Rs 100.

Vishvas News team didn’t find any news report regarding the claim that the photo of Gautam Buddha is used in the new currency notes of Nepal. Vishvas News further scanned the website of the Central Bank of Nepal, where photos of new currency notes of Rs 100, 500 and 1,000 were there. However, no photo of Gautam Buddha could be seen in the currency notes.

Vishvas News also contacted Narayan Prasad Pokhrel, Deputy Spokesperson and Information Officer of the Central Bank of Nepal and shared the picture of the viral note with him. He called the photo fake. The user — Arun Jatav — who posted the photo lives in Hapur and has 4,900 followers.