Tamil Nadu govt changes names of 1018 places; Coimbatore is now Koyampuththoor

Tamil Nadu government has changed spellings/names of 1,018 places in state closer to ir Tamil origin as ir current names are anglicised. initiative was taken by Tamil Development Ministry in year 2018 and many Tamil linguistic experts along with district administration were part of this work to change names of districts/areas to have exact Tamil sound while prounced in English. Most of names of areas and districts are named in Tamil even before British era and some names have been changed by later governments.

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Names changed to reflect Tamil sound

names were kept based on geography, demography, and or local factors in particular district or area. But most of Tamil names sounded different when y were prounced in English and hence state government decided to change names in a way that could give Tamil sound even while prounced in English. Triplicane in Chennai is an English word coined by colonial rulers and actual name is Thiruvallikeni, which means a lotus pond of famous temple at locality.

name Triplicane was changed to Thiruvallikeni long back and informed in government gazette. Every area and district has such a factor behind it. detailed government gazette which was dated April 1, 2020, and which was released on Wednesday mentions existing name and newly recommended names of areas and districts, starting from many important areas within Chennai city to a small vill in Madurai.

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Some of se new names include-

Coimbatore - Koyampuththoor
Ambattur - Ampaththoor
Nrcoil - Nrkovil
Vellore - Veeloor
Dindigul - Thindukkal
Tuticorin - Thoothukkudi
Karur - Karoor
Vepery - Vepperi
Saidapet - Saidapettai
Alandur - Aalandhoor
Mylapore - Mayilappoor

government had also asked district administration and local bodies to start changing names as y have got instruction from government. gazette has also asked various departments to work toger to accomplish this job on changing newly recommended names by high-level committee. However, government is also facing heat on releasing such a GO during time of pandemic where all departments are busy in combatting coronavirus situation in state. It is also a major trend among netizens of Tamil Nadu and has given a topic of discourse, to share jokes and memes on new recommended names which are complex to write, as y are used to existing names.

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(Im credits: PTI)