Tamil Nadu to change official names of 1000 Spots

Biplab Das, INN, Kolkata, @infodeaofficial

To put forth for the importance of Tamil phonetics, the AIADMK government has given an administration request altering the English spelling of 1,018 urban communities and places or giving them an absolutely new authority name.

For example, the spelling of Coimbatore, the second biggest city in the state, has been changed to ‘Koyampuththoor’.

Tuticorin or Thoothukudi to ‘Thooththukkudi,’ and Triplicane and Egmore, to territories in Chennai city, to Thiruvallikkeni and Ezhumboor (which means the seventh town, as it was the seventh town purchased by the British), separately.

The effect of changing more than 1,000 names formally in government records won’t just be costly, yet arduous as well; signage will be changed on parkways and railroad stations; adjustments will be made on government records, postal and connected administrations and so forth.

The choice additionally left the Tamil abstract hover isolated as it would like to think. Theodore Bhaskaran, a student of history acquainted with the state’s cutting edge history, said the choice was “absolutely unjustifiable” during a pandemic and censured the legislature for not taking railroads and the postal office in certainty before going for this monstrous undertaking.

“All around, there is a method of reasoning about locations… the sum total of what that has been crushed here. In certain cases, the first importance itself has changed. This will have an effect, even on races. Do they have a thought regarding the centrality of addresses and spot names?” Bhaskaran inquired.

However, K Pandiarajan, Minister for Tamil Official Language and Tamil Culture told that there were numerous elements that had postponed these amendments.

“It was a long-pending venture. A significant test was that it required amendment in income, enrollment, and nearby body offices, a huge assignment before us. There used to be solid opposition from these offices. Like Bombay became Mumbai and Madras became Chennai and Trivandrum became Thiruvananthapuram, it was essential to save our local language and articulations in our place names and spellings,” he said.

This task has been in progress since 2018 when it was first reported. After region organizations had chosen 1,018 spot names and submitted them to the administration with new spellings according to Tamil articulation, the administration sent it to Tamil educators and journalists in each locale looking for their last endorsement.

Of the 1,018 name changes, 647 spellings were chosen by authorities and 371 were corrected or changed by Tamil specialists.

While Pandiarajan guaranteed the administration’s move was to acquire the neighborhood, local setting of names, which were to a great extent overlooked by British, he highlighted two changes in which the spelling, as well as the name itself, were changed.

Triplicane in Chennai changed to Thiruvallikkeni (despite the fact that it was initially Thiru-Alli-Keni, named after the tank of the white lily as indicated by history specialist Nandita Krishna) and Tuticorin or Thoothukudi changed to Thooththukkudi.

While the spelling of Mylapore was changed by authorities to Mayilappoor, the last spelling affirmed by specialists was Mayilaappoor, with an extra ‘a’. Sivaganga to Sivagangai, Dharmapuri to Tharumapuri, Poonamallee to Poovirunthavalli are a couple of different changes.

Spellings of Tondiarpet in Chennai city, one of the areas with most extreme Covid-19 cases, has been changed to Thandaiyaarpettai, Saidapet has been changed to Saithaappettai and Vellore, north of Tamil Nadu, has been changed to Veeloor, as it is articulated in Tamil.