 "Corporates rally to 'De-Car' as Gurgaon goes on green drive")
This recent change on the map of India has reportedly been encouraged by the locals, who the government claims have been making the demand.
Legend has it that Gurgaon was derived from the name of guru Dronacharya, a master of archery in Mahabharata, a Sanskrit epic poem.
The village was given as a gurudakshina (gift) to him by his students — the Pandavas — and came to be known as Gurugram, which over time is said to have got distorted to Gurgaon.
The state government also announced its decision to rename Mewat district as Nuh. This change has also reported been demanded by the people of the area.
Mentioned below are a few major cities that went through a similar phase of re-christening:
Bombay to Mumbai
The financial capital of India got its name changed in November 1995, after the Hindu nationalist party Shiv Sena won majority seats in the Maharashtra state assembly elections. The party renamed the city of Bombay to Mumbai, after the Hindu goddess and city patron deity, Mumbadevi.
It has been reported that the party began their push for a change in name even before they came to power in the state. An article in Slate magazine says Shiv Sena "argued that 'Bombay' was a corrupted English version of 'Mumbai' and an unwanted legacy of the British colonial rule". The party also wanted to strengthen the Marathi identity in the state. However, the central government was skeptical about renaming the city, mainly due to its global presence. They reportedly felt that 'Bombay' would lose its identity internationally once it became 'Mumbai'.
While the change in name was not welcomed by all, it did not have much of an impact on residents of the state or the identity of the city. Till date, a large proportion of the population, both locally and globally, refer to the city as 'Bombay' on a day-to-day basis.
Madras to Chennai
The capital of Tamil Nadu got its official name change in July, 1996, announced by then Chief Minister M Karunanidhi. Renaming the city to 'Chennai' did not come as a shock to many, as the name was already been used colloquially by the Tamil speaking population. The first officially usage of 'Chennai' was reportedly seen in a sales deed, dated 8 August 1639, to Francis Day of the East India Company.
There are two stories that revolve around the origin of 'Chennai'. One story says that when the British acquired the city - which was a small coastal village at that time - from Venkatappa Naik, he requested to develop it into a town and name it after his father Chennappa Naik. This is where the name Chennapattnam ("Pattnam" or "pattinam" means "town" in Tamil) came into existence. Over a period of time, Chennapattnam changed to 'Chennai'.
A second theory about 'Chennai' says that the city was named after the Chenna Kesava Perumal Temple; a temple that is regarded as the face of the city.
While the transition from Madras to Chennai was smooth, Madras is still used occasionally, especially for places that were named after the city prior to 1996.
Calcutta to Kolkata
The capital of West Bengal officially came to be known an Kolkata in the year 2001. Originally known as Calcutta, the name change was mainly in line with the Bengali pronunciation of the word.
The origins of Kolkata's etymology is unclear, with history presenting a number of stories behind the name. However, the most popular theory is that Calcutta - which is the anglicised version of the name - was derived from the Bengali word Kalikshetra meaning 'Ground of the Goddess Kali'.
The decision to change the city's name was not met with wide-spread approval, even among the locals. While the state government said that the official change in name was a step towards ridding the city of its colonial legacy, a few argued that the past was important to the history of the place.
Bangalore to Bengaluru
The capital of Karnataka officially changed its name from Bangalore to Bengaluru in 2014. The change in name was suggested by Jnanpith awardee UR Ananthamurthy. A Times of India reports quotes Ananthamurthy as saying, "The name-change is the first step (to cope with retaining identity in the times of globalisation and an increasingly Anglicised word)."
The name Bengaluru - which is the Kannada version of Bangalore - first made its appearance in the 9th century on Western Ganga Dynasty stone inscription. The name which literally means "hero stone". The inscription refers to the place as 'Bengaval-uru', which means "City of Guards".
The change in name was first proposed by Ananthamurthy in December 2005. While the state government decided to officially implement the change in November 2006, the Union government officially approved the change only in 2014.
Calicut to Kozhikode
Calicut was one of the first Indian cities to shed its colonial name post Independence, in the year 1949.
The Hindu reported that a 63-year-old order issued by the Government of Madras, dated January 27, 1949, states that the ‘Municipality of Calicut’ shall henceforward be called the ‘Municipality of Kozhikode’. Records also reportedly show that there was almost no public objection to the change in name, except for one T S Raman. The Madras government however refused to accept his protests.
While the Malayalam communities in Kerala always referred to the city as Kozhikode, history sheds light on a number of alternate identities, based on different communities. Arab merchants called it Q?liq??, Tamils - Kallikkottai, Chinese - Kalifo and in Kannada it was known as Kallikoate.
Uttaranchal to Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand - the name by which the region has been recognised in ancient scriptures - was called Uttaranchal during the birth of the state in November 2000, by the ruling NDA government. This move however was not a popular one among the locals, who wanted the name of the state to be christened as Uttarakhand. This demand was also backed by the fact that the moment for the formation of state was called the 'Uttarakhand Movement'.
The bill to change the name Uttaranchal to Uttarakhand was passed by the Parliament in December 2006 and the change came into effect on January 1, 2007.
The name Uttarakhand is derived from Sankrit and literally means "Northen Land". Even during the short period that the state was known as Uttaranchal, Uttarakhand always remained popular and was widely used by the locals.
India has seen over 100 cities undergo a change of name since Independence. Here are a few more cities that are part of that list:
India has seen over 100 cities undergo a change of name since Independence. Here are a few more cities that are part of that list:
| Old Name | New Name | Year of Change |
| Waltair | Visakhapatnam | 1987 |
| Gauhati | Guwahati | 1980 |
| Baroda | Vadodara | 1974 |
| Simla | Shimla | Right after independence |
| Panjim | Panaji | 1960 |
| Mysore | Mysuru | 2014 |
| Mangalore | Mangaluru | 2014 |
| Hubli | Hubballi | 2014 |
| Belgaum | Belagavi | 2014 |
| Trivandrum | Thiruvananthapuram | 1991 |
| Cochin | Kochi | 1996 |
| Trichur | Thrissur | 1990 |
| Poona | Pune | 1978 |
| Pondicherry | Puducherry | 2006 |
| Banaras | Varanasi | 1956 |
