Video of Kali idol being dismantled in Bengal falsely viral as Muslims defacing Hindu deity in Bangladesh

A video showing individuals dismantling an idol of the Hindu deity Maa Kali was recently viral on social media. Many sharing the video have claimed that the incident took place in Bangladesh, where Islamic fundamentalists allegedly destroyed the idol and killed the devotees present at the temple.

Zee News aired the video and claimed in its report that the footage was recorded by Islamic fundamentalists in Bangladesh who attacked the temple and broke the idol. The channel added that the footage was evidence that religious violence against Hindus in Bangladesh was rampant.

The mouthpiece of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Organiser Weekly, shared the video on social media. They claimed that the footage was from Bangladesh, reiterating that Islamic extremists attacked the temple, destroyed the idol of Hindu deities and killed devotees. (Archived link)

Jitendra Pratap Singh — whose posts carrying misinformation with communal overtones have, in the past, been fact-checked by Alt News — shared the video, claiming it depicted an attack in Bangladesh, where Muslims allegedly assaulted a Hindu temple, destroyed idols and injured over 20 Hindus. (Archived link)

Yesterday in Bangladesh, Muslims attacked Kalibari i.e. Kali temple and destroyed the idols of Mother Kali and all the Hindu gods and goddesses.

And the Hindu devotees present inside the temple were beaten.

More than 20 Hindu devotees are badly injured But the whole world is… pic.twitter.com/fsDlDl7ae6

— 🇮🇳Jitendra pratap singh🇮🇳 (@jpsin1) December 2, 2024

Russian state-run media outlet RT India also shared the video, asserting that it was from Bangladesh, where a Hindu temple had reportedly been attacked. (Archived link)

Soon, several other users and outlets — including Ajay Chauhan, Bangladeshi journalist and editor of the fake news website BLiTZ Salahuddin Shoaib Chaudhary, BJP supporter Akshit Singh, fake news website Kreately and Sudarshan News — joined in on the noise, circulating the video with similar claims.

Fact Check

Alt News conducted a keyword search using terms related to the incident and discovered a tweet by Bangladeshi fact-checker Shohanur Rahman, who clarified that the video was not from Bangladesh but from Sultanpur in West Bengal, India. Rahman shared a screenshot of a post by a user named Jagannath Mandal, who mentioned “Kali Mata Niranjan 2024” and referenced the location as Sultanpur, Khandagosh, East Burdwan district. The event was organized by Sultanpur Kiranmai Library and the local community.

This video is not from Bangladesh, nor does it show people attacking the Kali Pratima. It is from Sultanpur, Khandaghosh, East Burdhaman, India.

The event depicted is a religious ceremony called Kali Mata Niranjan. Participants in the video can be seen chanting slogans like “Jai… pic.twitter.com/ivScUOoFa2

— Shohanur Rahman (@Sohan_RSB) December 2, 2024

Further verification led to a Facebook page of Kiranmai Library, where a post dated November 26 detailed the Kali Mata Niranjan (Immersion of Mother Kali) 2024 event.

The post included photos and videos identical to the viral footage, though recorded from different angles. One video showed devotees joyfully carrying broken parts of the idol for immersion (visarjan/niranjan).

A post from October 31 on the same page featured a Bengali newspaper clipping showing the idol, matching the viral video.

The temple location in Sultanpur was confirmed through Google Maps and correlated to images in the Facebook post.

On searching for Bangla keywords related to this, we found a news report from October 21 on the website of Dainik Statesman. According to this, such idols are created only once every 12 years, after which they are immersed. All, including Hindus and Muslims, participate in this puja in the Dritishnu village located in Sultanpur East. Members of the blacksmith community started the tradition in this village about 600 years ago. Later, its responsibility was handed over to a family. According to the tradition, as 12 years are complete since the idol was made, it must be relinquished and a new idol will be created again. Since such a big idol cannot be carried to a water body for immersion, it is taken apart piece by piece to do so. According to the rules, first, one finger of the idol is broken, then bit by bit it is removed and immersed in the pond by devotees. A procession is carried out in village a few hours before the ritual.

To sum it up, social media users shared a video of people taking apart the idol of the Hindu goddess Kali as part of an immersion ritual in West Bengal’s Burdwan district with a false claim and communal angle that Muslims broke the idol of the Hindu goddess and killed devotees.