Bangalore is now officially Bengaluru and Mysore is Mysuru. 12 of Karnataka's major towns and cities reverted to their old Kannada names today after the Union Home Ministry this month cleared a proposal made by the state nine years ago.

It's a birthday gift - Karnataka turned 68 today. The state had sought the Centre's clearance for the change in names in 2006.

The official shift from Bangalore to Bengaluru was a demand made by many, including UR Ananthamurthy, the late Jnanpith award winner.

"It is not really a change of name. It is only a change of spelling. We have always been saying Bengaluru. Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam speakers, local people have always said Bengaluru. It is not like Madras being turned into Chennai which was a distinct change of name," said Girish Karnad, well known actor.

PUBLIC OPINION IS MIXED

A resident of the IT city said, "I think we have come a long way from Bengaluru to Bangalore, and Bangalore has been around for a long time. We even have a term in the IT industry called 'Bangalored'.

"If there is nothing fundamentally wrong with a name like Bangalore and it is already famous, people know it, recognise it the world over, there is no reason to change it back to Bengaluru. It is futile, you waste time, money, effort and it creates confusion."

But another resident said, "Bangalore should have its originality. Those with a British accent started using the name Bangalore and those who don't know how to speak Kannada. Bengaluru is the name that should be used."

Apart from Bangalore and Mysore, the other cities that formally get new old names today are: Belgaum - Belagavi, Mangalore - Mangaluru, Gulbarga - Kalaburagi, Hubli - Hubballi, Shimoga - Shivamogga, Chikmagalur - Chikkamagaluru, Bellary - Ballari, Bijapur - Vijapura or Vijayapura, Hospet - Hosapete, Tumkur - Tumakuru

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