Some places renamed in India during last 6 year

India has been on the name changing spree. During last 5 years names of many places, roads and monuments have been changed on the basis of the present names being reminder of colonial era or names being derogatory and names of some places being after some Moghul king who was not positively inclined towards the original inhabitants. Another argument for changing names was to replace those alien names with our own local heroes. Here is a list of some changed names during last 5 years in chronological order.

November 2014

Bangalore became Bangaluru. In all, the names of 12 places in Karnataka changed to reflect original Kannada pronunciation. Mysore became Mysuru and Mangalore became Mangaluru.

August 2015

Aurangzeb road in Delhi became APJ Abdul Kalam road.

October 2015

Rajahmundry was renamed Rajamahendravaram in the honour of 11th century king

April 2016

Gurgaon became Gurugram after Guru Dronacharya of Kauravas of Mahabharata fame. Mewat renamed to Nuh.

May 2016

Bangalore city railway station renamed Krantivira Sangli Rayanna, 19th century freedom fighter.

September 2016

Race Course road in Delhi renamed Lok Kalyan Marg, giving 7 RCR a new address.

January 2017

Ganda village in Fatehabad district of Haryana renamed AjitNagar after a petition to PM by teenager Harpreet Kaur Malkat. Kinnar village changed to Gaibi Nagar. Both previous names had derogatory shades.

July 2017

Odisha’s Wheeler island, home to a missile testing range was renamed APJ Abdul Kalam Island.

September 2017

Kandla port in Gujarat was renamed Deendayal Port to mark the centenary year of JanaSangha co-founder.

February 2018

Chor Basai in Rajasthan lost Chor. Nachania in Bihar became Kashipur.

July 2018

Mumbai’s Elphinstone Road station named after British governor was renamed Prabhadevi.

August 2018

“Miyon Ka Bara” village in Barmer Rajasthan got new name Mahesh Nagar as residents alleged that due to Muslim sounding name it was hard to get marriage proposals.

August 2018

Mughalsarai junction founded in 1860 and one of the busiest junctions in country renamed as Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya junction.

July 2018

West Bengal assembly passed a resolution to change the state’s name to Bangla. Mamata Banerjee didi found that due to alphabetical pecking order, her bureaucrats were called last at central meetings. With changed name “Bangla” pecking order will be on top almost.

October 2018

Naya Raipur in Chhattisgarh has been renamed as Atal Nagar after the popular prime minister of India Atal Behari Vajpayee.

October 2018

Allahabad City which got this name from Akbar and is the holy place where Kumbh Mela is held.

The process continues unabated. Next on the anvil are the names of trains based on the great personalities which belonged to the originating stations.

Some places renamed in India during last 5 year

India has been on the name changing spree. During last 5 years names of many places, roads and monuments have been changed on the basis of the present names being reminder of colonial era or names being derogatory and names of some places being after some Moghul king who was not positively inclined towards the original inhabitants. Another argument for changing names was to replace those alien names with our own local heroes. Here is a list of some changed names during last 5 years in chronological order.

November 2014

Bangalore became Bangaluru. In all, the names of 12 places in Karnataka changed to reflect original Kannada pronunciation. Mysore became Mysuru and Mangalore became Mangaluru.

August 2015

Aurangzeb road in Delhi became APJ Abdul Kalam road.

October 2015

Rajahmundry was renamed Rajamahendravaram in the honour of 11th century king

April 2016

Gurgaon became Gurugram after Guru Dronacharya of Kauravas of Mahabharata fame. Mewat renamed to Nuh.

May 2016

Bangalore city railway station renamed KrantiviraSangoliRayanna, 19th century freedom fighter.

September 2016

Race Course road in Delhi renamed Lok Kalyan Marg, giving 7 RCR a new address.

January 2017

Ganda village in Fatehabad district of Haryana renamed AjitNagar after a petition to PM by teenager Harpreet Kaur Malkat. Kinnar village changed to Gaibi Nagar. Both previous names had derogatory shades.

July 2017

Odisha’sWheeler island, home to a missile testing range was renamed APJ Abdul Kalam Island.

September 2017

Kandla port in Gujarat was renamed Deendayal Port to mark the centenary year of JanaSangha co-founder.

February 2018

Chor Basai in Rajasthan lost Chor. Nachania in Bihar became Kashipur.

July 2018

Mumbai’s Elphinstone Road station named after British governor was renamed Prabhadevi.

August 2018

“Miyon Ka Bara” village in BarmerRajasthan got new name Mahesh Nagar as residents alleged that due to Muslim sounding name it was hard to get marriage proposals.

August 2018

Mughalsarai junction founded in 1860 and one of the busiest junctions in country renamed as Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya junction.

July 2018

West Bengal assembly passed a resolution to change the state’s name to Bangla. Mamata Banerjee didi found that due to alphabetical pecking order, her bureaucrats were called last at central meetings. With changed name “Bangla” pecking order will be on top almost.

The process continues unabated. Next on the anvil are the names of trains based on the great personalities which belonged to the originating stations.

In the Cauvery’s Land

I landed at Bangaluru earlier known as Bangalore airport at half past five in the evening on Wednesday.  I had boarded the flight from Delhi. It was dot on time. At the airport, drivers were asking exorbitant money for going to the city where I had booked online a room in a hotel near railway station. I chose this hotel in the proximity of railway station because I had booked a berth in a train called “Mysore express” for going to Mysore. In fact, Mysore is not so easily accessible from outside places. I have a meeting with the scientists at Central Food Technology Research Institute (CFTRI) where a collaborative project was running and it is about to conclude in November. I even tried taking a taxi directly from Bangalore airport to Mysore but again taxi drivers were asking for a fare which included the return fare also. Already we were knowing this exigency and as an alternative had booked a room in a hotel in Bangalore and leaving by early morning train for Mysore.

From Bangalore the distance to Mysore is only 140 kilometers but trains run very slow due to single track for coming and going trains. If two trains are coming from opposite sides which usually is the case, one of the trains has to halt at a passing track and allow the other to cross. At the railway station, it first seemed very confusing because instead of Mysore Express, name of the train was written as Tuticorin express. Anyway the train came very much on time from Tuticorin and commenced its journey towards Mysore on time.

Soon the city was left behind. All along there were fields of sugarcane, rice and millet. There were coconuts planted everywhere. Trees and shrubs with beautiful flowers could be seen around the houses. The whole countryside was lush green. Occasionally the train crossed a bridge on a river. And which river? It is none other than the sacred river Cauvery. It is also a bone of contention between the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The waters of the river are used as a Political weapon by the Karnataka state because it has erected many dams on the river and Tamil Nadu is starved of water whenever Karnataka state wants to pressurize the Central government to meet its demands.

Anyway, the greenery became more and more intense as the train chugged towards its destination. There were banana cultivations also at many places. Farmers were seen working in the fields. At last the train reached the destination after three and half hours and I was received by colleagues from CFTRI and went to the hostel.