The name of the capital of Tamil Nadu was changed from Madras to Chennai in 1996
Chennai:
The government of Tamil Nadu withdrew in less than a week the controversial decision to change the English spelling of 1,018 places in the state after the decision and its calendar amid the coronavirus pandemic had received mixed responses. The state had changed the spelling to reflect the Tamil pronunciation and spelling of these places.
“We are working on aligning expert views on Tamil to English transliteration standards. We hope this will be published in 2/3 days. The GO on changing the English names for Tamil names places has been removed. Will be absorbing all comments and re-releases shortly, “tweeted Tamil Language Development Minister K Pandiarajan.
While many of these English names were anglicized versions of the original and were invented by the British, some had the influence of Sanksrit on them.
The names reflecting the new English spelling were chosen after a committee of high-level experts reviewed the suggestions of district collectors who had recommended a list of Anglicized names who needed a Tamil makeover.
For example, the Manchester of South India, Coimbatore, was renamed Koyampuththur, throwing away its English spelling and adding two sets of “th” to it. Tuticorin was changed to “Thooththukkudi” and Kolathur to “Kolaththoor”, leaving many people disappointed and angry.
Some of the changes had also drawn attention not to reflect Tamil phonetic forms – as Vellore had become “Veeloor” while Kumarapalayam remained unchanged.
Egmore of Chennai was replaced by “Ezhumboor”, Tondiyarpet by “Thandaiyaarpettai” and Guindy had become “Gindi” under the previous order which has now been revoked.
The names of the famous cities of the temples Srivilliputtur and Srirangam have been changed to “Thiruvillipuththur” and “Thiruvarangam” respectively, deleting their Sanskrit prefixes.
Although the state retains its English name, Tamil Nadu, the name of the state capital was changed from “ Madras ” to Chennai in 1996.
