A video showing a man in a red T-shirt lighting a cigarette using a sacred temple lamp has gone viral on social media, with users claiming it shows a Muslim man desecrating a Hindu temple in Andhra Pradesh.
The footage is being shared widely with allegations of religious insensitivity and calls for action against the accused.
A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “A Muslim man has been caught on video entering the sacred premises near Ranamandala Anjaneya Swamy Temple in Adoni, Kurnool district.”
He casually lights his cigarette using the holy dweepam (sacred lamp), smokes inside the temple, makes vulgar gestures and walks out smiling arrogantly at the camera. This is not just disrespect it’s a deliberate insult to Hindu sentiments and the sanctity of our temples. Temples are not smoking zones or filming sets for cheap thrills. Such repeated incidents cannot be ignored.”
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The man in the viral temple video is not Muslim; it’s a 2022 video of a Hindu youth.
On a Google reverse image search, we found that the screenshot of the video was shared by Deccan Chronicle on July 7. According to the report, a viral video from a Shiva temple in Adoni, Andhra Pradesh, showed a youth, identified as Vadde Eeranna, allegedly lighting a cigarette with a sacred oil lamp. The act sparked outrage, with devotees calling it an insult to religious sentiments and demanding strict action against those involved.
The Fact-Check unit of the Andhra Pradesh government also confirmed the details in a post on X on July 8, stating that the incident occurred in 2022 at the Shiva temple on Ranamandal hill in Adoni. According to the post, no case was registered at the time of the incident in 2022. However, after the video was deliberately made viral recently, police registered a case under Section 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.
The X post also quoted the police and read, “Police inquiries confirmed that Vaddera Eeranna, a young man from Virupapuram village in Adoni Mandal, was involved in this misdeed along with three friends during the time of the 10th class supplementary exams that year. No case was even registered at the time regarding this incident that occurred back then. Now, with some individuals deliberately making the video go viral, police have registered a case under BNS Section 299.”
The incident was also reported by The Times of India on July 8. No report mentioned him as a Muslim man.
Hence, the claim that a Muslim man desecrated the temple is false. Police and the Andhra Pradesh government have confirmed these facts and are investigating why the old video was deliberately circulated to provoke communal tensions.