Viral Sach: Did Narendra Modi wear shoes in Golden Temple?

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week took a heritage walk and visited the Golden Temple soon after arriving in Amritsar to attend the Heart of Asia conference. Narendra Modi distributed food to devotees at the Golden Temple here thus becoming the first Prime Minister to serve the community kitchen, or langar, at the holiest of Sikh shrines in this Punjab city, It was the Prime Minister's first visit to the shrine and he was accompanied by Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani. After Modi's visit to the holy site, a message with a photograph has gone viral on social media claiming that the Prime Minister entered Harmandir Sahib wearing shoes. "Where people remove their shoes and wash hands and feet before entering a Gurudwara, the Prime Minister entered wearing shoes," the message alleged. However, the photograph, which is widely shared on the internet along with the message, is of renovated heritage corridor when PM Modi and Afghan president Ashraf Ghani walked through it before reaching the Harmandir Sahib. When Modi entered the Golden Temple he was barefoot and had donned cap to cover his head during the visit. Prime Minister visited the Harmandar Sahib, the sanctum sanctorum, to pay obeisance and offer prayers. On Saturday night, when Modi entered the dining hall, he also served the devotees. The shrine's main dining hall is the 24-hour community kitchen where an estimated 100,000 devotees are fed traditional meals on peak days. PM spent more than 40 minutes in the Golden Temple, which is spread over 15 acres. In our Viral Sach segment, the viral message which claimed that PM entered the Golden Temple wearing shoes, has proven to be a hoax. (With inputs from IANS)