Fact Check: 2018 France Lemon Festival Video Misrepresented As Ganesh Puja Celebrations
Conclusion: Vishvas News investigated and found the claim to be misleading. The video of the Lord Ganesha idol made from oranges and lemons is from 2018 Lemon Festival in Menton, France, not Holland and the video has no relevance to current events.
- By Vishvas News
- Updated: September 18, 2024
New Delhi (Vishvas News): A video showing an idol of Lord Ganesha made of oranges and lemons is going viral on social media. Several users are claiming that this video is from a recent Ganesh Utsav celebration in Holland.
Vishvas News investigated and found the claim to be fake. The video is from the 2018 Lemon Festival in France, with a Bollywood theme. The same video is now being shared as a recent one, falsely attributing it to Holland.
What is in the viral post
Facebook user Nilesh Keniya shared the video on September 10, 2024, with the caption: “Amazing supernatural form of Ganpati made from oranges in Holland. Om Gan Ganpataye Namah.” The archived version of the post can be seen here.
Investigation
To investigate the viral video, we extracted several key frames from the video and conducted a Google reverse image. This led us to a news report on the Live Hindustan website, published on February 18, 2018. The article stated that the video depicts a scene from the Lemon Festival in Menton, France, where an idol of Lord Ganesha was made from lemons and oranges and the festive theme that year was Bollywood.
During our investigation, we also found a picture related to the viral video on istockphoto.com. The description confirmed that the picture was taken at the famous Lemon Festival of Menton, France on 18 February 2018, where an idol of Lord Ganesha was made from oranges and lemons.
We also found the video on the official YouTube channel of ‘AGENCIA EFE’, uploaded on February 18, 2018. The video clarified that it is from the Lemon Festival held in Menton, France, with a Bollywood theme.
This video went viral on social media previously as well. At that time, we contacted a French website, festivals@allexciting.com via email and their response confirmed that this video is from the Lemon Festival in Menton, France, not Holland.
We also searched the 2024 edition of the Lemon Festival and found an article published on euronews.com on February 19, 2024, which stated that this year’s theme was centred around the Olympics.
Finally, we scanned the profile of the user who shared the video and found that the user is a resident of Mumbai and is influenced by a particular ideology.
Conclusion: Conclusion: Vishvas News investigated and found the claim to be misleading. The video of the Lord Ganesha idol made from oranges and lemons is from 2018 Lemon Festival in Menton, France, not Holland and the video has no relevance to current events.