As India’s Kumbh Mela ended February 26, 2025, footage of fireworks and a laser show circulated in social media posts falsely claiming it showed the massive Hindu festival’s last day. The clip racked up thousands of views, but it predates the gathering by several months and depicts another celebration along the banks of the Ganges river in the northern city of Varanasi.
“Maha Kumbh ends, now this moment will never come again in life,” says a Hindi-language X post shared February 26.
It includes a video of people in boats watching the sky lit up with fireworks and a laser light show. A Hindi text overlay reads: “First and last Maha Kumbh of life.”
Screenshot of the false post taken March 3, 2025
The video spread elsewhere on Facebook and Instagram as the six-week Hindu religious gathering wrapped up in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh (archived link). Organizers say hundreds of millions of devotees attended the gathering.
Comments from social media users “hailing the concluding ceremony” suggest they believed the claim about a fireworks and laser show.
However, reverse image searches using keyframes from the clip found another video that a photography Instagram account posted November 15, 2024 (archived link).
Screenshot comparison of the video shared in the false posts (L) and the original video posted on Instagram
AFP contacted the Instagram handle managed by Ankit Dixit, who confirmed the video was filmed in Varanasi in November 2024.
“I filmed the video during Dev Deepawali celebration on banks of river Ganga in Varanasi and published it the same night on my social media platforms,” Dixit told AFP on March 3, referring to another Hindu festival (archived link).
Indian news agency ANI also shared glimpses from the celebration in a November 15, 2024 X post (archived link).
AFP found no such reports about fireworks at the Kumbh Mela’s concluding ceremony, although drones lit up the sky on more than one occasion during the event.
State broadcaster DD News reported an air show conducted by the Indian Air Force “over the mela area marked the end of the 45-day celebration” (archived link).
AFP has fact-checked other misinformation about the Kumbh Mela here.
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