Fact Check: Ritual video misrepresented as temple priests fighting over donations

A video of ritual Agni Keli in Karnataka is being shared as temple priests fighting over donations. The viral claim is misleading.

Old video with misleading claim
Screenshots of viral video showing ritual Agni Keli, being shared with misleading claim. (PC: X)

Lighthouse Journalism came across a video being widely shared on social media platforms. It was claimed along with the video, that when the priests didn’t get a share from the donation box, they started fighting among themselves.

During the investigation, we found that the video is of a ritual and does not show a fight among the priests. The viral claim is misleading.

Claim:

X user Surya Raj नागवंशी shared the video with a misleading claim.

Other users are also sharing the same video with a similar claim.

Investigation:

We started the investigation by checking comments on these videos.

A few comments on the videos being shared on social media platforms mentioned that the video was from Durga Parameswari Mandir in Karnataka.

We then ran a keyword search on Google and found a few news reports associated with the ritual.

We found a similar video uploaded on YouTube.

The description mentioned: Every year, the Kateel Shri Durga Parameshwari Temple in Mangaluru, Karnataka, hosts a spectacular, thrilling, and spiritual festival known as Agni Keli.

The ritual is known as ‘Agni Keli’.

We also found a few news reports associated with the ritual.

The description said: The tradition of lighting fire in the Durgapurameshwari temple of Karnataka has been going on for centuries. ‘Agni Keli’ or ‘Thoothedhara’ is an age-old tradition in which devotees play with fire for 8 days at the Durgaparameshwari temple, located about 30 km from Mangalore. Shri Durga Godi is situated in the temple complex.

We found the screenshots in a news report on mathrubhumi.com.

The report mentioned: As part of the ritual, devotees from the neighboring villages of Attur and Kodethoor light dried coconut palm fronds and hurl them at each other in a symbolic battle. The ritual, performed on the eighth day of the temple’s annual festival, draws hundreds of spectators and participants who embrace the fiery celebration with reverence and intensity.

Conclusion: A video of ritual Agni Keli in Karnataka is being shared as temple priests fighting over donations. The viral claim is misleading.