It’ll be ‘Bengaluru’ from Nov 1

It’ll be ‘Bengaluru’ from Nov 1
Deccan Herald

The State Government has decided to implement a suggestion from Jnanpith awardee Dr U R Ananthamurthy that the IT City revert, along the lines of Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, to its pre-colonial Kannada name “Bengaluru”.

It’s official. India’s silicon City — Bangalore — will be renamed as “Bengaluru” from November 1.

The State Government has decided to implement a suggestion from Jnanpith awardee Dr U R Ananthamurthy that the IT City revert, along the lines of Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, to its pre-colonial Kannada name “Bengaluru”. Announcing this on Saturday after reviewing the progress made in the preparations for the year-long Suvarna Karnataka celebrations, Home and Law Minister M P Prakash said that a formal announcement in this regard would be made on November 1 during the inauguration of the celebrations, after obtaining the approval of the State cabinet.

The Bangalore Mahanagara Palike had on September 27, 2006 passed a resolution urging the government to change the name of the silicon City, after Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy echoed predecessor N Dharam Singh’s assurance that the government would accept Dr Ananthamurthy’s recommendation.


Dr Ananthamurthy had put forward the suggestion before the government on December 5, 2005, when the then chief minister had convened a meeting of eminent personalities and litterateurs to seek their suggestions on the Suvarna Karnataka celebrations.

Other cities

The change of name will not be restricted to Bangalore alone. Several other cities, including Belgaum, Mangalore, Mysore, Shimoga, Hospet and Hubli, will revert to their respective pre-colonial Kannada names, namely, Belagavi, Mangaluru, Mysuru, Shivamogga, Hosapete and Hubballi respectively, Mr Prakash said.