We often get confused with the names of different cities that have a similar spelling or pronunciation. For instance, we get confused between Odisha and Orissa. One city that we often get confused about is Bangalore or Bengaluru.
While, both of them are the correct pronunciations and are used to term a city in Karnataka, the story behind these two names is different. One mythical question that we usually come across is, are Bangalore and Bengaluru two different cities or the same one?
Let’s address this myth!
Are Bangalore and Bengaluru 2 different cities?
There is a difference between Bangalore and Bengaluru, but the difference only involves the names used for the same city. Bangalore and Bengaluru are two different terms but are used for the same city in Karnataka.
Bangalore is the anglicized name which was used extensively during the British colonial rule in India. The city was called Bangalore for many years even after getting independent in 1947. It is the name which was widely recognized internationally and in English literature as the Britishers could not speak the local names in the Indian native way as they should.
On the other hand, Bengaluru was the original name of the city. After getting changed by the Britishers, people started calling it Bangalore. However in 2014, the state government of Karnataka officially restored the original name Bengaluru and changed it from Bangalore.
This was done to restore to original Kannada names of the cities and places in Karnataka. Bengaluru is the original name of the city in the Kannada language which is also the official language of the state of Karnataka.
So essentially, the only difference between Bangalore and Bengaluru lies in the names itself. Bangalore is the anglicized version of Bengaluru which was extensively used by the Britishers in India during the colonial rule. It is the term which is commonly used in the international context and in an informal way.
Bengaluru is the official name of the city which was restored in 2014. This term is used in official and local work.
