The Shivlinga in the photo was not found in Ayodhya excavation, but in Farrukhabad in 2016
Photo of a Shivlinga found in Farrukhabad in 2016 is viral claimed to have been found in Ayodhya excavation recently.
Viral: “भगवान श्रीराम जिस शिवलिंग की पूजा करते थे वो मिला अयोध्या की खुदाई में आज जयकारे में कमी ना आए 🚩🐅जय श्री राम🐅🚩”
Translation: “The Shivlinga which Lord Rama used to worship was found in the excavations in Ayodhya. Jai Shree Ram.”
An image of a Shivlinga structure has gone viral with the claims that it was found in the recent Ayodhya excavations, and that Lord Rama used to worship it.
This particular post has been shared for over 800 times, with 12000 reactions.
The post was widely shared on Facebook,
भगवान श्रीराम जिस शिवलिंग की पूजा करते थे,
वो मिला अयोध्या की खुदाई में।जयकारे में कमी ना आए
🚩🐅जय श्री राम🐅🚩 pic.twitter.com/L05UtuqpQH— Shama Singh Bisen 🇮🇳🇮🇳 (@kshamaLively) May 24, 2020
भगवान श्रीराम जिस शिवलिंग की पूजा करते थे
वो भी मिला है अयोध्या की खुदाई में….
जयकारे में कमी ना आएजय शिव शम्भू ❤️🙏
जय श्री राम ❤️🙏 pic.twitter.com/d01pTzeGto— Kajal sudhir mishra (@Kajal_mishr) May 23, 2020
Truth
Upon doing a Google Reverse Image Search on the photo in the posts, we came across an article by Amar Ujala which said that the Shivalinga belonged to a temple called ‘Mathiya Devi Mandir’ in UP’s Farrukhabad. The article was published on 27 July, 2016.
According to the article, the renovation work in the temple in 2016 had brought to light the fact that a part of the Shivalinga had been underground so far. The Shivlinga is 250 years old.
According to Hindustan Times, land-leveling work has indeed been going on at the Ram Janmabhoomi site in Ayodhya, having started on 11 May. Many artifacts have been found at the site but, the image that has been going viral is not from Ayodhya but Farrukhabad, and of 2016.
Hence it is established that the Shivlinga was not found in the excavation in Ayodhya. It is to be noted that the Shivlinga in the image belongs to a temple in Farrukhabad, in Uttar Pradesh.
