Bangalore to become Bengaluru

The fiftieth formation day of Karnataka was marked by the re-christening of its capital City Bangalore as Bengaluru amidst a mixed reaction from the people and industry.

Bangalore is not the only City in Karnataka, which will be shedding its English name considered to be legacy of the colonial rule. The second-tier cities like Mysore, Mangalore, Hubli and Belgaum will also be called as Mysoru, Mangluru, Hubbali and Belagavi respectively.

Though the Kannada puritans are gung-ho about the re-christening of Bangalore into Bengaluru, sections of the IT industry, which has made the City its base and contributing to its cosmopolitan nature, have expressed certain reservations.

But, the Government’s firm resolve to replace the anglicized name of Bangalore with a more local Bengaluru is in tune with similar name changes effected by the Governments of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, which renamed their capitals as Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata respectively during the last few years.

The renaming of Bangalore, which has now become synonymous with the vibrant IT and BPO industry, came about after well-known Kannada litterateur and Jnanpith awardee U R Ananthmurthy made the demand last year.

He reasoned that Bengaluru came to be called as Bangalore because of the inability of the colonial rulers to pronounce the original name properly. But, he said the re-christening of Bangalore as Bengaluru is not as difficult as it is being made out to be.

“In Kannada language, U is a great enabler”. Just like Bangalore becomes Bengaluru by adding a U, Ananthamurthy said any English word can be made into a Kannada word by adding a U. “Chair becomes Chairu, Table becomes Tablu”, he said.

Despite a formal announcement by the Government of Karnataka, Bangalore will not be able to sport its new name till certain administrative procedures are followed. The State Government has to secure a clearance to its proposal from the Federal Government, place the same before the State Cabinet and publish it in the gazette after calling for objections.

“All this will take atleast 45 days”, according to a senior official in the Department of Kannada and Culture in Bangalore.