Who would have thought that a joke on Twitter would take such a dramatic turn as this one? On Oct 17, Twitterati woke up to #NoidaFilmCityExcavation trending on the social media websites calling for an excavation to unearth Hanuman's bead from under the Noida Film City in the outskirts of Delhi.
It all started with a series of tweets by Rahul Gandhi's parody account @RoflGandhi, where he wrote a story on how Hanuman Ji's 'manka' is buried under the Noida Film City.
"Professor Balwan Dahiya Ji is a researcher of Hindu Spirituality at Rohtak University. Has done a deep study on Hanumanji. His research is that when Hanumanji was returning with Sanjeevani, a bead on his mace fell down. After thousands of years, In the ninth century the bead was found by a poor Kriparam," the Congress leader's parody account tweeted.
Further, the account stated that the 'miraculous mystery' can change the fortunes of India.
"Professor Dahiya's grandfather Bhaleram Dahiya also once met Nehru and demanded an excavation for the discovery of the Bajrangi temple. But they were ignored. Today, a number of news studios are inhabited in Film City and imprisoned in the ground, a miraculous mystery that can change the fortunes of India."
RoflGandhi also urged the Film City to be excavated. "If not today, tomorrow the people of the country will definitely ask for the answer. Nothing over faith, no news studio at all. "
Soon after this, everyone, from journalists to politicians, took on to Twitter in support of the excavation.
Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal on Twitter came in support of the excavation. They tweeted, "According to BJP, Hanuman was a Dalit, not a Savarna! That is why Brahminical BJP #NoidaFilmCityExcavation I am coming! This is a question of faith in Hindu identity and the Hindu religion of Bahujan society! If it is delayed or played with Hindu public sentiment, it would have devastating consequences!"
Renowned director and producer, Shekhar Kapur took a dig at it. He said, "Yes! We tried to keep this a secret for a long time. We were asked by the archaeological society of India not to tell anyone as there would be huge problems on ownership. Last I heard Anil Kapoor has it in his home #NoidaFilmCityExcavation."
MLA Md Nematullah said that excavation should start immediately. "If India is to become the world guru and the most powerful country, #NoidaFilmCityExcavation Start the work of immediately."
Another Twitterati shared the GPS of the Temple where the bead is buried.
"Exact GPS yeh hai mandir ka.. Agar khudai ki jaaye toh Hanuman ji ka manka yahin milega. 28.569412, 77.317797."
This doesn't end here
A news channel also hopped onto the bandwagon by running it on their bulletin. "Ayodhya is ours, lord Ram is ours, from where did these Muslims come?" they said in their poster.
If you think this stopped here, you are wrong. Around 4,000 people actually took this seriously and signed a petition on Noida Film City excavation created by Gandhi's parody account on Change.org.
Some enthusiasts took this elaborated joke a little further by setting up an event on Facebook to gather people to 'Party at Noida film city for Hanuman Ji ka Manka'.