An audio clip of a melodious mantra in Sanskrit is being shared on social media, with the claim that it has been sung by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Netizens on WhatsApp and Facebook are sharing this clip with the message: Katyayani Mantra sung by Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji. Never imagined PM had such an impressive voice."

The archived version of the post can be heard here.

India Today Fact Check found that these claims are false. This viral Katyayani mantra was sung by All India Radio (AIR) artiste Jitendra Singh, and not by the prime minister.

The message with the false claim went viral on social media for more than a month.

We found that at the time of Navratri celebration last year, PM Modi posted this audio clip from his Twitter handle @narendramodi with a simple prayer message. Nowhere did he mention the name of the singer.

Maa Katyayani, give us the strength to always work towards empowering the poor and marginalised. With your blessings, may good always prevail, may there be justice for all. https://t.co/sz4vQDSua2 Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 15, 2018





This same song with same duration was uploaded by the official YouTube account of AIR on September 25, 2017, as Mata Kaatayayani Stuti video.It mentions the name of the artiste as Jitendra Singh.

When India Today spoke to Singh, he confirmed that he sang the Katyayani mantra for AIR in 2017.

The webportal Quint had also reported about this viral video.

Earlier, India Today had reported in September 2017 that a compilation of navadurgastotra’ was being done by AIR on a special request from PM Modi. Artistes K Vageesh, Radhika Chopra, Vidhi Sharma, Naresh Malhotra and Jitendra Singh were roped in to record nine different songs for Navratri.

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INDIA TODAY FACT CHECK





Claim PM Narendra Modi sang 'Katyayani mantra' Conclusion The Katyayani mantra in the viral post was sung by AIR artiste Jitendra Singh which PM Modi also shared on Twitter. JHOOTH BOLE KAUVA KAATE The number of crows determines the intensity of the lie. 1 Crow: Half True

2 Crows: Mostly lies

3 Crows: Absolutely false