Viral videos of scuba divers’ ‘Ram Setu exploration’ are AI-generated
Videos showing scuba divers exploring submerged ruins with inscriptions are viral on social media with claims that it is an exploration drive of the Ram Setu—a now-submerged chain of corals that connects Tamil Nadu’s Rameshwaram to the Mannar island of Sri Lanka and is of religious significance to Hindus.
According to Hindu mythology, the Ram Setu was a bridge built by the Hindu deity, Ram, with the help of his army of monkey soldiers (vanar sena) to reach Lanka (now Sri Lanka) and rescue his wife, Sita, who was taken hostage by the demon king, Ravana. Hindu devotees and followers of Ram believe that the boulders used to create this chain were inscribed with Ram’s name, which miraculously enabled them to float on water, thus resulting in the formation of a bridge. According to the TN government, the Ram Setu is 48 kms long and is made of natural limestone shoals. The Ram Setu’s origin stories have sparked debates; many have disputed mythological claims that it was built by Ram and argued that it is a natural formation.
The viral videos, however, show scuba divers near stone boulders with inscriptions, examining ancient tools and artefacts, including sculptures resembling Hindu gods Hanuman and Ram.
X account @VIKRAMPRATAPSIN shared the video claiming it shows “findings” of Ram Setu. (Archive)
The post garnered around 284,000 views.
Another X user, @rohitgangwalind, also shared the clip claiming that it was not a myth or fictional narrative but the historical reality of the past. The user, Rohit Gangwal, says in his X bio that he is the state coordinator of foreign affairs for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Madhya Pradesh.
On Facebook, a user named Ravish Singh shared a similar video. In the caption, they urged that whoever believes that Ram Setu is a fragment of fiction must watch the video closely.
Different versions of these videos were viral across social media platforms. X account @Bhaskar_m11 also shared one of these versions, claiming the scuba divers were exploring the Ram Setu. (Archive)
The post garnered around 95,000 views.
Another X user, Geeta Patel (@geetappoo), posted the video with a similar claim. (Archive)
Facebook user V. S. Prince Ratan also shared a different version of the video with a caption that said “real footage” of the Ram Setu was finally here. (Archive)
Several others also shared these videos with similar claims.
Click to view slideshow.
Fact Check
We first performed a keyword search to check if any expeditions to the Ram Setu were undertaken this year and found no recent news reports on this. In 2021, the Indian government had approved a three-year scientific expedition for an underwater study of the Ram Setu to determine its age and origin. This expedition was led by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and the National Institute of Oceanography. In July 2024, scientists from ISRO used NASA’s ICESat-2 satellite and created the first detailed undersea map of Ram Setu, providing fresh insights into its structure.
At a glance, the quality and detail in some of the shots made us doubt that it was real footage. There are also no records that the Ram Setu contained sculptures of the deities or the large gate-like structure seen in the viral videos. Owing to this, we suspected that the videos may have been created using artificial intelligence technologies.
To be sure, we broke down some of these viral videos into key frames and did a reverse image search with keywords. This led us to the Instagram account of Jay Paribakaran or @JayPrints, where one version of the viral video appeared on April 6, 2025. The user identifies themselves as an AI Artist and the caption alongside the purported video of Ram Setu has a clear disclaimer that the video was created using artificial intelligence. “Note: All visuals shown here are AI-generated and meant purely for artistic and educational purposes. We deeply respect all beliefs and traditions – this reel is intended to inspire wonder, not offend” the disclaimer reads. However, the same video was shared by others on X and Facebook without any AI label or warning.
This video has garnered approximately 73 million likes.
Note that this Instagram user often uploads such AI-generated videos that garner millions of views, including one of an underwater exploration of the mystical city of Dwarka and another showing bulldozers in the background seemingly chasing away wildlife, referring to the deforestation drive in Telangana’s Kancha Gachibowli.
The reverse-image search of key frames with a slightly different set of keywords also led us to the Instagram account of digital creator Bharathfx1 (bharathfx1), where another version of the Ram Setu videos first appeared, on March 27, 2025. The original post on Instagram clearly says that the video was created using AI-generated visuals.
The post amassed nearly 12.4 million views and over a million likes, at the time of this article being written. Like the previous user, this account also creates AI-generated content on Instagram. On February 18, they uploaded a video “The Lost City of Dwarka Rising from the Depths” that was also viewed and liked millions of times. The AI disclaimer label appears as a caption on all such videos.
However, despite the clear disclaimers in the Instagram posts of the AI artists, many social media users reshared it from their own accounts without any such warning, leading to widespread misinformation that the video was of remains and ruins from Ram Setu.
To sum up, viral videos showing scuba divers exploring ruins underwater are AI-generated and claims that these videos show divers exploring the Ram Setu are baseless.
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