India's High-Tech Hub Bangalore To Be Renamed 'Town Of Boiled Beans' [ Bangalore to Bengaluru ]
India's high-tech capital Bangalore, known worldwide as an outsourcing hub, will change name to reflect the local language and become "the town of boiled beans", the state chief minister said Monday.
The city in southwest India, capital of Karnataka, will officially use the local Kanada language name Bengaluru next year to mark the 50th anniversary of the state, N. Dharam Singh told AFP.
"It will give the feel of Kanada language," Singh said. "Bombay has been changed to Mumbai, Calcutta to Kolkata. We are doing the same."
"The name change will happen on November 1, 2006, coinciding with the launch of the state's Golden Jubilee year. I have issued a directive."
Bangalore, according to state historians, got its name from Bendakalooru (the town of boiled beans) after a king strayed into the area during a hunting trip in the late 14th century.
A woman offered him a meal of boiled beans which the king enjoyed so much that he named the town after the dish.
Bengaluru is a transliteration of the original spelling, according to state historians.
Several cities in India have been renamed since independence from British colonial rule in 1947 to reflect local languages and nationalist sentiments.
The southern Indian state of Kerala rechristened its capital Trivandrum in 1991 to Thiruvananthapuram and Maharashtra state's Bombay became Mumbai to reflect the Maratha language in 1995.
The Tamil Nadu state capital of Madras was renamed as Chennai in 1996 and West Bengal's Calcutta became Kolkata in 2001.
source : Terradaily.