Fact-check: This video of foreigners eating with hands on banana leaf is not from UK PM's Pongal feast

Canadian officials were seen eating with their hands on a banana leaf during Pongal. (Image: Screengrab from video sonal_mansingh/Twitter)

A video that went viral on social media on Tuesday, apparently showing staff members of the United Kingdom's Prime Minister's Office celebrating Pongal, has been debunked  by fact-checkers.  The video shows governmet staff and formally dressed officials sitting together and eating a traditional meal with their hands on a banana leaf, Indian style. But the clip was not from UK and is in fact from Waterloo in Canada where the Tamil Cultural Association organised the feast.

The video received many positive reactions especially from Indians who were pleasantly surprised to see the initiative displayed by the foreigners.

The original video was uploaded by the Tamil Cultural Association on Facebook that got just over 500 views but the viral claim that it was organised by Indian-origin UK PM Rishi Sunak grabbed more eyeballs and was wrongly shared on social media without the proper attribution.

Men were also seen in the clip serving various food items dressed in veshtis.

Watch the video here:

Even Rajya Sabha MP Sonal Mansingh fell prey to the fake claim and shared it on her Twitter handle saying it was from the UK PMO.

Pongal is a four-day harvest festival celebrated in mainly in south India especially Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, and marks the end of the winter solstice. The festival is marked by colourful decorations, traditional music and dance, and many traditional delicacies.