Fact Check: Was the rock where Sita used to sit in Ashok Vatika brought to Ayodhya?

According to the Ramayana, Ashok Vatika is the place where Sita was kept captive by Ravana after her abduction from Dandakaranya. It is also said that Sita refused to stay in the king's palace but preferred to stay in Ashok Vatika under the Ashoka tree.

In the viral video, Yogi Adityanath and Jyotriaditya Scindia, the minister of state for civil aviation, can be seen receiving a statue at an airport while being escorted by drums. The video caption reads, "The rock on which Sita Mata used to sit in Ashok Vatika was brought to Ayodhya from Sri Lanka."

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Fact Check

The claim is false.

NewsMeter performed a reverse image search and found similar visuals in a tweet by Union minister for culture, tourism, and development G. Kishan Reddy. The tweet read, "Performed a ceremonial worship on the arrival of the Sacred Buddha relic from Sri Lanka on the occasion of Ashwin Poornima. Also welcomed Buddhists Monks on their arrival. The exposition of Holy Relic will take place during celebrations of Abhidhamma Day today at Kushinagar, UP."

Taking a cue from here, NewsMeter searched online for news reports on Yogi Adityanath receiving a sacred Buddhist relic and found that a team of 123 Sri Lankan delegates was welcomed at Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar International Airport. They had handed Yogi Adityanath the relic at the airport (Source: Times of India).

According to Republic World, "The Sri Lankan delegation, including a Holy Relic entourage, departed on October 20 for the inaugural international flight to Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar from Colombo." The flight carried the Sri Lankan delegation of more than a hundred Buddhist monks, dignitaries, and a 12-member Holy Relic entourage bringing Holy Buddha Relics for exposition, it said.

The same was also tweeted by ANI and by the official Twitter handle of the High Commission of India in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

We also found a statement released by the Press Information Bureau on 19 October stating that the Union ministry of culture, International Buddhist Confederation in association with the government of Uttar Pradesh organized the Abhidhamma Day on 20 October 2021 at Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh on the occasion of Ashwin Poornima. The event would be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, eminent monks from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, South Korea, Nepal, Bhutan, Cambodia, ambassadors of various countries, Governor and CM of UP, and various ministers.

It is evident that the viral video does not show the UP Chief Minister receiving the rock on which Sita used to sit in Ashok Vatika. He was receiving a Buddhist relic on the occasion of Ashwin Poornima. Thus, the claim is false.