It's official: Bangalore is now Bengalooru

[ 2 Nov, 2006 0007hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

BANGALORE: Even a cricket match would not attract the kind of crowd that the Chinnaswamy stadium saw here on Wednesday.

The 55,000-capacity stadium overflowed as people stood, cheered, clapped, whistled, hooted, sang and danced, marking Karnataka's 50th birthday to the dhamaka of crackers, lighting of thousands of lamps, patriotic songs and folk dancing.

The enthusiasm was boundless, despite jostling crowds, occasional crackers in the stands and pouring rain. Be it the 70-plus Ekikarna (unification award winners) or the young schoolchildren who had come to dance to the Kannada songs, the rain drenched everyone to the skin, but dimmed nothing of the occasion's exuberance or colour.

In line with the history and culture woven into the fabric of the event, chief minister H D Kumaraswamy quoted Kannada poets and leaders extensively, even as he made course-altering announcements for the state and the language:

Bengalooru: Using the platform, nearly a year after his predecessor N Dharam Singh said Bangalore would be renamed as Bengalooru, he said: "I am formally stating that 10 cities including Bangalore will use their Kannada names in English also. The process to make this official is on."

The 10 cities are: Bengalooru (Bangalore), Mysooru (Mysore), Mangalooru (Mangalore), Chikmagalooru (Chikmagalur), Shivamogga (Shimoga), Belagaavi (Belgaum), Kalburgi (Gulbarga), Hubballi (Hubli), Hosapete (Hospet) and Tumakooru (Tumkur).

Name change
It will take another 45 days for Bangalore to be called Bengalooru along with nine other cities. The Geological Survey of India has to be informed by the Union home ministry and all maps must change to the new names.
The revenue department sent a formal proposal to the Union home ministry on October 17 seeking to rename all these cities.

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