‘La Ilaha Illallah’ in Kerala Temple? Truth Behind Viral Video
A viral video falsely claims that Muslims and Christians were appointed as priests in Kerala temples. OBC traced the footage to an Ayyappa puja in Andhra Pradesh, uncovering how an old video was repackaged to fuel a communal narrative.
Footage widely circulating across social media and mainstream news platforms alleges that Islamic prayers are being chanted inside a Hindu temple in Kerala. It shows devotees dressed in black singing an Islamic song. The video claims that the ‘Congress-backed leftist’ government in Kerala is appointing Christians and Muslims as priests in the state’s temples and questions Priyanka Gandhi’s intention behind such propaganda.
OBC identified that these viral posts are false.
The Viral Video
The video was posted on 14 September from an X account named ‘Suman Meena’, which has 11.3K followers. The caption in Hindi, along with the video, translates to, ‘Congress-backed Left government has appointed Muslims and Christians as priests in Kerala temples.’
The post also mentions Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi. As of 18 September, 792 people have viewed this video.
A similar post also appears on an account named AswathiCandra, which has 3,690 followers. One line from the post reads: ‘Congress and leftists, listen up with your ears wide open. Secularism won’t work in temples.’
Many users reacted with outrage in the comments, targeting the Congress party and minority communities. One comment read, translated from Hindi: ‘Congress members are Muslims anyway.’ Another user questioned why those who shouted during discussions on the Waqf Board law did not look at what was happening there. The user further asked why the general public, despite seeing everything, had forgotten that whenever power fell into such hands, they would hurt people’s faith in any possible way, granting anyone the right to meddle in their affairs while claiming to speak up for others.
Is This Video From Kerala?
OBC analysed keyframes from the viral video and conducted a reverse image search. We found that the post was originally shared by an account named @Akhand_Bharat_S. The post has since been deleted. An archived screenshot shows that it was shared on 14 September 2026 at 14:50.
We also performed a keyword search on YouTube. This led us to the original video, which was uploaded by a YouTube channel named Malli Photography, which has over 56,000 subscribers. The channel shared the video on 12 November 2017.
It was published under the title ‘Chalasani Gardens Ayyapaswami Padi Puja HD.’ The 5-minute-and-18-second video does not show the chanting of an Islamic devotional song. However, other videos related to the same puja can be found on the channel.
Additionally, we conducted another keyword search using the terms ‘Ayyappaswami padi puja’ and ‘La Ilaha Illallah Islamic song videos’. This led us to a YouTube video uploaded on 24 July 2019, on a channel named SBR News 1, which has 14.4K subscribers. The video indeed shows devotees chanting an Islamic devotional song as part of the ritual.
Ayyappa devotee groups sing songs containing Islamic phrases and verses to honour Vavar Swami, a legendary Muslim warrior and close companion of the Hindu deity Lord Ayyappa. Chants such as ‘La Ilaha Illallah’, which are used in songs honouring Vavar, are commonly sung during Ayyappa bhajans as a mark of respect.
The Location Is Andhra Pradesh, Not Kerala
We geolocated the video to Andhra Pradesh. In the YouTube video, the caption ‘Chalasani Gardens’ from the Malli Photography channel can be seen. A Google search for ‘Chalasani Gardens’ revealed that the venue is located in Vatluru, Eluru district, Andhra Pradesh. A comparison confirmed that a photo uploaded to Google Photos matches the exact venue where the Ayyappa Padi Puja took place in the video.
The Ayyappa puja took place on a main stage at Chalasani Gardens. In 2022, this same video also circulated on X accounts with claims that it was from Sabarimala.
OBC’s analysis confirms that the old video is from Andhra Pradesh. Many right-wing social media accounts are falsely circulating the recycled video throughout social media platforms.
