Fact check: Viral image of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi burying a time capsule in Red Fort is TRUE

An image showing former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi burying a vacuum-sealed copper capsule in front of Red Fort has been shared on social media.

"On August 15, 1973, amid great fanfare, Indira Gandhi buried a vacuum-sealed, copper- and steel-encased time capsule in front of Red Fort. Set to last for 5000 years, its contents have never been made public. What was in it that was so secretive?" reads the caption of the image.

Same picture with identical text posted on Facebook too.

So, NewsMeter decided to verify whether the claim that time capsule was indeed buried during that time, and the viral picture depicts the same.

Fact Check:

The claim that late prime minister Indira Gandhi buried a time capsule in 1973 is TRUE.

Keyword search on Google has shown several articles related to the time capsule that was buried in the Red Fort complex by Indira Gandhi in 1973.

According to the article published by News18 on August 11, 2016, the time capsule was named "Kalpaatra" and was to commemorate the 25 years of independence.

Indira Gandhi's government claimed that the contents of the time capsule were to document the first 25 years of the country -- its developments, and struggles.

The Indira Gandhi government had set a time frame of 1000 years to open the time capsule. But it was later excavated by the Morarji Desai's Janata government in 1977, which claimed that the information contained in the time capsule might be distorted history and glorification of the Nehru family.

The Time Capsule buried by Indira Gandhi inside the Red Fort in 1973 was excavated after five years in 1977 and no there is no publicly available information about its contents

Prime Minister Narendra Modi buried a time capsule inside the foundation of the Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar when the memorial's construction began in May 2010. Modi was then the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

The list of contents shows that Mahatma Gandhi, Vallabhbhai Patel, and Modi's predecessors have received passing mention. Ninety percent of the capsule — a 3ft-by-2.5 in stainless-steel cylinder-- is expected to last between 200 and 1,000 years.

Time capsules are usually depositories of information to preserve the history of a particular period or a country.

According to the Business Standard article, Academician and Writer, Madhu Purnima Kishwar sought information from the PMO about the contents of the time capsule. But the Prime Minister's Office has claimed that it has no information regarding the content of the time capsule that was buried by the Indira Gandhi government in 1973.

Therefore, it is TRUE that a time capsule was indeed buried in Red Fort by the Indira Gandhi government in 1973. But it was excavated after 5 years and there is no publicly available information about its contents.