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Wide-Eyed Meme Turns Into Karnataka’s New ‘Nazar Battu’

Reports link the image to a 2023 clip by YouTuber Niharika Rao with limited verification.

Overview

  • Posters featuring a wide-eyed woman are hanging on construction sites, shop shutters, gates and homes across Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka.
  • Attention surged after X user @unitechy shared photos on January 5, a post that gathered over 3 million views and prompted crowdsourced sleuthing.
  • Many users and reporters describe the image’s use as a modern nazar battu or drishti charm intended to ward off the evil eye at vulnerable locations.
  • Online investigators, using AI tools after image searches initially failed, traced the face to a 2023 video meme featuring Karnataka-based YouTuber Niharika Rao.
  • News outlets say they have not independently verified the identification or origins, leaving key details about the poster’s provenance unresolved.