Fact Check: Viral Flood Video Linked to Vaishno Devi Temple Actually from Gujarat's Pavagadh Temple

As the monsoon intensifies across India, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and associated agencies have issued weather alerts in several regions, warning of potential hazards including landslides, flash floods, and urban flooding.

In Gujarat, districts such as Banaskantha and Navsari have been severely affected by continuous rainfall. The overflow of the Purna River in Navsari has led to flooding in residential areas, disrupting daily activities. In Banaskantha's Tharad region, waterlogged roads have hindered the movement of vehicles.

A red alert has been issued by the IMD for several districts, including Ahmedabad, Surendranagar, Morbi, Jamnagar, Devbhoomi Dwarka, Porbandar, Rajkot, Sabarkantha, and Banaskantha. These areas are expected to receive very heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds reaching up to 40 km/h. Authorities have advised residents to remain indoors and avoid travel unless essential.

In Himachal Pradesh, flash floods have damaged infrastructure, including the Himachal Cooperative Bank in Thunag, where the first floor of the two-storey building was destroyed. The extent of the financial loss, which includes cash and jewellery, is yet to be fully assessed but is estimated to be in crores of rupees.

Since June 20, the state has recorded 23 flash floods, 19 cloudburst events, and 16 landslides. According to the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), 78 deaths have been reported during this period 50 from rain-related incidents and 28 from road accidents.

Amid the ongoing situation, several flood videos are surfacing on the internet like a storm. One such video, now going viral, shows a strong flow of water over a staircase. It is being claimed that the video is from the temple of Goddess Vaishno Devi in Jammu and Kashmir. The video also displays the date as 25th June 2025.

Fact Check:

The claim is misleading. The viral video is not from the Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu and Kashmir, but from the Pavagadh temple in Gujarat.

During the verification process, various photos and videos of rainwater around the Vaishno Devi temple were examined.

However, the specific viral video was not found to be associated with any media outlet. If rainwater had indeed been flowing in such large volumes at the Vaishno Devi temple, it would likely have been covered by mainstream news channels.

A reverse image search of a portion of the viral video led to a YouTube video uploaded on 26 June 2025. That video clearly mentions the sight of rainwater flowing in the Panchahat area of Pavagadh.

The video appeared similar to the viral clip, so we compared both. From the comparison, we found that both videos were recorded at the same time.

A YouTube video link was found by searching keywords related to the viral video. On 25 June 2025, News18 Gujarat uploaded the video to its YouTube channel, mentioning "Heavy rain in Panchahal, Pavagadh."

Similarly, some other media outlets have uploaded the controversial video to their YouTube channels. The links are available here, here, and here.

On the other hand, News24 has reported the incident in detail: "Heavy rain in Gujarat, stairs of Pavagadh temple turned into a flowing waterfall; red alert in these 8 districts. “A flood-like situation emerged at the Pavagadh Temple, located in Panchmahal district of Gujarat. Due to heavy rains, the stairs of the Pavagadh temple were flooded with water, making them appear like a cascading waterfall. A video from the site has been captured by News24, which shows water rushing down the stairs. The torrential rainfall caused the water to flow so rapidly from the stairs that it resembled a waterfall. While it looked visually appealing and scenic, it caused significant problems for residents in the area. The situation became serious as the road turned dangerous due to waterlogging. However, no casualties were reported, as there were fewer devotees at the temple at that time.

So, it is clear that the claim is misleading. The video showing excessive rainwater flowing from a temple in Pavagadh, Gujarat, was falsely shared with the claim that it was from the Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu and Kashmir.