Several videos have gone viral on social media following the devastating flash floods in Nepal on August 26, 2026. Some users shared a video claiming that after the disaster, the world’s largest Shaligram, said to be more than 170 million years old and weighing 30 tonnes, was found in Muktinath.
In this context, Zee News put out a report with a screenshot from the viral video and, along with the hashtags #Nepal, #Flood and #Shaligram, wrote: “Viral Video: Floods have revealed a secret, a 170-million-year-old Shaligram has been found.”
Shaligrams are naturally formed stones traditionally found in Nepal’s Kali Gandaki River, and revered by Hindus as representations of the deity, Vishnu.
Right-wing X user Amitabh Choudhary (@MithilaWaaala), who has been found spreading misinformation and comminal propaganda several times in the past, shared a video and wrote: “Stone older than dinosaurs. Worlds largest Shaligram weighing 31 tonnes is revered as Form of Bhagwan Vishnu has been found in Nepal.”
Kisi ne sahi hi kaha hai, “शुरुआत भी वही, सफ़र भी वही, और अंत भी वही।”
Stone older than dinosaurs !!
Worlds largest Shaligram weighing 31 tonnes is revered as Form of Bhagwan Vishnu has been found in Nepal 🇳🇵 pic.twitter.com/GIv851LJbV
— Amitabh Chaudhary (@MithilaWaaala) August 29, 2026
X user Shashank Shekhar Jha, who claims to be a Supreme Court lawyer, and others such as @Nalanda_index, @CodexZeroTR, @Krishnavallabhi, @bhaktSenapati, along with several Facebook and Instagram users, too, shared videos and photos with similar claims.
Fact Check
To find out the truth behind the viral claim, we performed a relevant keyword search. This led us to reports published on June 30, 2026, by Himalaya Times and Online Khabar featuring images of the giant sculpture seen in the viral video.
The reports stated that a 22-foot-tall Shaligram sculpture in Nepal’s Mustang district was gradually becoming a centre of religious faith. According to the reports, sculptors from the Nepal Academy of Fine Arts carved a huge rock on the banks of the Kali Gandaki River in Jomsom in Gharpajhong rural municipality area and created the 22-foot-tall Shaligram replica between April 20 and May 4, 2026.
During our investigation, we found a report by a website called Desh Sanchar. According to the report, the 22-foot-tall sculpture had been unveiled on the evening of May 28, 2026, after religious rituals on the banks of the Kali Gandaki River.
We also located a video uploaded on April 23, 2026 on the Facebook page, Nepal Raibar, in which artists could be seen carving a rock to create a Shaligram statue.
We also geolocated the Shaligram statue shown in the viral video. It’s located on the Kali Gandaki River, opposite ‘Thakkhola Lodge & Jimihendrix Restaurant in Jomsom. When we compared Google Street View images from 2025 with the viral video, we found that the 2025 image only showed a large rock.
This makes it clear that the Shaligram statue shown in the viral video is not a natural or ancient stone. Rather, it is a statue created by carving a rock.
We also tried to look for the sources of all the variants of the now-viral visuals. We found the original version of the video and the screenshots shared by Zee News on the Instagram account of a user named Durga Prasad Poudel. It was posted on June 2, 2026.
View this post on Instagram
Similarly, we found the second viral video uploaded on June 30, 2026, on the Instagram account of a user named Rijan Dongol.
View this post on Instagram
The third viral video was shared on June 8, 2026, on the Facebook account of a user named Arjun Singh. Its caption reads: “A huge 22-foot-tall Shaligram statue is located on the banks of the Kali Gandaki River in Jomsom, Mustang. This monumental work, inaugurated by Jagadguru Shankaracharya Mahaswami Vidushekara Bharati, attracts a large number of pilgrims and stands as a major spiritual and cultural site in Nepal.”
Thus, all three viral videos featuring the Shaligram statue have been available on social media since June 2026. They have absolutely no connection with the recent disaster in Nepal in August.
Overall, the claim by Zee News and other users that after the recent disaster in Nepal, the world’s largest Shaligram, more than 170 million years old and weighing 30 tonnes, was found in Muktinath is completely misleading. In reality, the 22-foot-tall Shaligram statue seen in the viral video was created by carving a rock on the banks of the Kali Gandaki River in Mustang district, during April–May 2026. The videos of the Shaligram statue circulating on social media are also from June 2026 and have no connection with the recent disaster in Nepal.
