The Tamil Nadu government has notified name changes to various cities and towns as per an announcement made in the state assembly two years ago. As per the gazette notification dated April 1, anglicised names of various areas have been changed closer to their original names in Tamil. The government has not spared names of districts and areas within them in the renaming drive.
Some of the cities and towns rechristened include Coimbatore to Koyampuththoor, Dindigul to Thindukkal and Vellore to Veeloor.
The following are the prominent cities and towns whose names or spellings have been altered:
Ambattur to Ambaththoor
Vepery to Vepperi
N. Panchampatti to Ni. Panchampatti
Tondiyarpet to Thandaiyaarpettai
Saidapet to Saithaappettai
Guindy Park to Gindi Poonga
Dharmapuri to Tharumapuri
Gudalur to Koodaloor
Vilupuram to Vizhuppuram
Pudukkottai to Puthukkottai
Mylapore to Mayilaappoor
Sholinganallur to Solinganalloor
Tiruvarur to Thiruvaroor
Tuticorin to Thooththukkudi
Ariyalur to Ariyaloor
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.
The gazette asked the departments of revenue, district administration, rural development and panchayat raj, and municipal corporations to take steps to implement the changes. The new spellings will be in effect in official documents hereafter. Those in existing ones will not be disturbed.
