Last week, a news story about one of India’s best-known temples showed a lesson I have seen many times. First as a reporter, and now as someone who helps companies deal with the press.
The story was about the Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi. Claims spread on social media, on TV news and in a Hindi daily that the temple’s main spire was badly damaged and that gold had gone missing.
On 14 October, the temple trust issued a press release. A press release is simply an official written statement sent to journalists.
What the trust did right
The trust did not just shout “fake news” and stop. It did three things.
First, it admitted the part that was true. A small section of the spire, on one corner, had worn away due to weather in April 2026.
Second, it offered proof. It said the damaged piece was kept safely, in its original state, in the temple locker.
Third, it named outside experts and a next step. A team from IIT Madras had already inspected the site and given an early report in July. A second visit is planned for November, followed by a detailed safety report.
Only after all this did the trust call the claims of missing gold and a collapse “completely baseless and misleading.”
Why a bare denial rarely works
When I worked in newsrooms, a one-line denial rarely ended a story. If a reporter has heard there is smoke, the word “baseless” only makes them look harder for the fire.
What ends a story is a clear account. What happened. What the proof is. Who checked it. What comes next. When a reporter has all four, there is little left to chase.
Rumours also grow fastest around a grain of truth. Here, the spire really had been damaged. That small, real fact made the bigger, false claims sound believable. If you leave a true fact unexplained, someone else will explain it for you, often wrongly.
This is not only a problem for temples or government bodies. I have seen the same pattern with a factory accident, a delayed salary, a product recall and a director’s sudden exit. Each time, there was a small true fact at the centre. Each time, the story got worse when the company stayed silent or denied everything.
Five simple tips for any business
- Separate true from false. Before you respond, list what is correct, what is wrong, and what you do not yet know. Confirm the first, correct the second, and be honest about the third.
- Lead with proof, not strong words. Photos, documents, dates, an outside expert’s report. A word like “baseless” carries weight only after the facts are on the table.
- Speak early about small problems. A minor issue you announce yourself is a small story. The same issue found by someone else becomes “what are they hiding?”
- Go where the rumour went. If a claim is on WhatsApp, TV and a Hindi paper, send your statement to all of them, in Hindi as well as English. Call the reporters who ran the story and offer them the facts. Most journalists want to get it right.
- Keep one spokesperson and one set of facts. Many voices with slightly different versions give reporters a new story. Pick one person, brief them well, and make sure everyone else points to the same statement.
If a report about you has already gone out with errors, there is a fair way to ask for a fix. My colleague Dr. Abha Azad explains it step by step in how to get a fair correction from an Indian newsroom.
Prepare before the rumour starts
The trust could answer quickly because it already had the facts in hand: the date, the stored piece, the expert report. Most businesses are not so ready. When a rumour breaks, they spend the first day just finding out what is true.
A little preparation fixes this. Keep a short, updated fact sheet about your business. Know who will speak, and who will approve a statement. Keep a list of the reporters who cover you. Track what is being said about you in the news and on social media, so you hear about a rumour before your customers do.
This is the kind of groundwork our corporate and public relations team at Finese PR builds with clients, long before any crisis.
A closing thought
Many companies treat every hard question as an attack. But a reporter asking “Is this true?” is giving you a chance to tell your side. The temple trust used that chance well. By owning the small damage, it gave people a reason to trust its word on the gold.
Truth, told early and with proof, is still the best defence.
Is your business ready if a false story about you goes viral tomorrow? Talk to our PR desk for a simple media-readiness review. We will help you get your facts, spokesperson and statement ready before you need them.
