State to notify cities' renaming today

The state government will come out with an official notification on Friday renaming 12 cities, including Bangalore and Belgaum.

Speaking to reporters in Bangalore on Thursday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said while the notification would be issued on Friday, he will make a formal announcement that the new names have come into effect at the official function to celebrate Kannada Rajyotsava on November 1.

Bangalore’s new name will be Bengaluru while Belgaum will be renamed Belagavi, Mangalore will be Mangaluru, and Mysore will become Mysuru in official records. 

The new names of other cities are: Ballari for Bellary, Hubballi (Hubli), Tumakuru (Tumkur), Vijapura (Bijapur), Chikkamagaluru (Chikmagalur), Kalaburagi (Gulbarga), Hosapete (Hospet) and Shivamogga (Shimoga).

The tryst with rechristening began in 2006, on the occasion of the golden jubilee of the formation of Karnataka, when the then JD(S)-BJP coalition government announced the shunning of anglicised names of Bangalore, Belgaum and 10 other cities.