The name game catches up with the City

The name game catches up with the City
Deccan Herald

From Bendakalooru to Bengaluru to Bangalore and now again to Bengaluru, the City has come a long way.

Bangalored, Bang-alore, Bangal-ore, Ban-galore, BA Galore, the City means different things to different people. From Bendakalooru to Bengaluru to Bangalore and now again to Bengaluru, the City has come a long way.

As part of the Survarna Karnataka (Golden jubilee of the formation of the State) celebrations, the State government has decided to take Bangalore back to its roots in name, Chief Minister Dharam Singh announced on Sunday. It shall be reverted to ‘Bengaluru’ just as Madras went back to ‘Chennai’, Bombay to ‘Mumbai’ and Calcutta to ‘Kolkata’, he has said.

Deccan Herald takes a look at the evolution of the name Bangalore. The name ‘Bangalore’ has an interesting story. Hoysala King Veera Ballala, during one of his hunting expeditions near Yelahanka region, lost his way. After wandering for a few hours, he reached the hut of an old woman. The humble woman offered some cooked beans and water to the the hungry King. He gladly accepted it. Happy with the hospitality of the old woman he named the place Bendakalooru (Town of Boiled Beans). Though this story is popular and credible, it lacks tangible historical evidence.

The name "Bengaluru" has appeared much earlier than the Hoysalas.

The earliest reference to the name is seen in a ninth century Ganga stone inscription (Veeragallu) fo-und in Begur village, about 14 kms south west of Bangalore. This inscription clearly mentions the name "Bengaluru", referring to a battle that was fought at that place. Rao Bahadur R Narasimhachar, in his Mysore Archeological Report (1914-15), dates this inscription to the 9th century AD.

The place which probably lent Bangalore its name, was a tiny hamlet called "Hale Bengaluru" or Old Bengaluru, where the present Kodigehalli village is located, near the Hebbal Tank. Kempe Gowda I, on building his new town in 1537, called it by this name, as his mother and wife were believed to have belonged to this place.

According to another speculation, the presence of vast stretches of the trees called "Benga" or "Venga" (Raktha honne) in Kannada lent their name to this place. Vengaluru (the place of Venga) became Bengaluru when "Ve" replaced "Be".

Yet another theory says that there was a big forest in this area and Kempegowda I, before building the town is believed to have burnt the forest. So the town built on Benda Kadu (burnt forest) "Benda Kaduru", later becane Bengaduru and finally Bengaluru.

Bangalore, the name used now, is the anglicised form of the "Bengaluru".

MANY AVATARS OF A CITY

Bangalored: This is a word invented in the United States to describe those whose jobs were lost because their work was outsourced to low-cost India. One Web site was selling T-shirts with the slogan “Don’t Get Bangalored” as a way of telling people about the issue.

Bang-alore: A few years ago, an IT expert at the technical seminar of IT.com suggested that “Made in Bangalore” should be promoted as a brand. There is “Bang” in Bangalore, he remarked.

Bangal-ore: The Bengali community of Bangalore coined the term “Bangal-ore” and used in their hoardings and publicity material to celebrate their community festival.

Ban-galore: In recent times, the entry of vehicles are banned on many roads as they have been made one-way, paving way for the term “Ban-galore.”

BA Galore: British Airways recently knocked out its ‘n’ to announce their direct flights into and out of the City.