Bangalore, India
The city of Bangalore is changing its name to Bengaluru, the Karnataka state government said this week. The new name is closer to the original, Kannada-language name, Benda Kaal Ooru, which means “town of boiled beans.” Tradition holds that the town was founded on the site where a king, tired from the hunt, was given a simple meal of beans. But Benda Kaal Ooru is hard to pronounce, so Kannada speakers who have been lobbying for the change said they would accept Bengaluru. Travel agents opposed the renaming. “Bangalore is a lovely name,” said Rajinder Pai of the Travel Agents Association of India. “Why confuse tourists?”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Amazon's 'James Bond' deal could mean a new future for 007In the Spotlight The franchise was previously owned by the Broccoli family
-
Why are Republicans suddenly panicking about DOGE?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As Trump and Musk take a chainsaw to the federal government, a growing number of Republicans worry that the massive cuts are hitting a little too close to home
-
What is JD Vance's Net Worth?In Depth The vice president is rich, but not nearly as wealthy as his boss and many of his boss' appointees
