When it comes to names of hundreds of cities, towns and localities in the State, one cannot any longer ask “what’s in a name?”
Out of names of 1,018 places examined by the authorities, a majority, if not the most, have been provided with a new name or rather a new spelling.
Here are some of the examples: One of the important industrial cities in the south — Coimbatore — will be called “Koyampuththoor.” Ambattur, known for housing a large industrial estate in the State, has been rechristened as “Ambaththoor.” A major tier-II city in the northern belt of the State — Vellore — is to be known as “Veeloor.”
“Vepery,” an old locality in Chennai, will have to be called “Vepperi.” N. Panchampatti, a place in Dindigul district, has been renamed as “Ni. Panchampatti.” Of course, Dindigul should hereafter be called “Thindukkal.”
To read the full list click here.
These are highlights of a government order issued by the Tamil Development and Information department in April, which has been released to the public recently. The order follows an announcement in the Assembly two years ago that anglicised names of the areas be changed closer to their original names in Tamil.
Apart from District Collectors, a high-level committee, headed by Minister for Tamil Official Language and Culture K. Pandiarajan, went into the matter. For each of the 1,018 places, the order mentions the name in Tamil, the existing English name, the one suggested by the Collector concerned and the recommendation of the committee.
Hereafter, it up to the departments of Revenue & Disaster Management, Municipal Administration & Water Supply, and Rural Development & Panchayat Raj to carry out the order.