Lucknow, Allahabad will be rechristened Prayagraj to restore the lost dignity of the ancient city, the Yogi Adityanath government decided on Tuesday.
Meeting the demand of monks and akharas, the step was cleared at a state Cabinet meeting chaired by the Chief Minister here.
State government spokesman Siddharthnath Singh told reporters here that all the departments, including Railways and others, would be asked to change the name of Allahabad to Prayagraj in their records.
“It was the demand of the seers and other people of Allahabad to revert to its old name, which has been accepted by the government before the coming Kumbh Mela to be held early next year,” said the UP health minister.
Mr Adityanath had extended the assurance, during his visit to Allahabad last week, to attend the consultations of te Kumbh Margdarshak Mandal.
The conclave was also attended by state Governor Ram Naik.Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad had demanded that the name of Allahabad should be altered to Prayagraj before next year’s Kumbh Mela, which is reputed to be the largest gathering in the world and the confluence of the holy Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati.
After the Kumbh Mela in 2001, then Chief Minister Rajnath Singh and Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri were also in favour of changing the name of Allahabad. The promise remained unfulfilled. Former Union Minister Kalraj Mishra was then the state BJP president.
In 1580, Mughal Emperor Akbar had decreed that the name of the city should be changed from Prayagraj as it was a place of Allah.