Thread by @WeAreBangalore

Namma Bengaluru Janate!

We have so many regions and places in Bangalore that most people wouldn't know why are they named what they are named. Help me compile it, will you? I will start (correct me if am wrong please).

1/n

1. HSR: Stands for Hosur, Sarjapur Road
2. BTM: Gets its name from surrounding Byrasandra, Taverekere and Madiwala
3. Banashankari: From the Banashankari Temple
4. Malleshwaram: From the Kadu Malleshwara temple

2/n

5. Majestic: From the Majestic Cinema theatre nearby
6. Cubbon Park: Named after British administrator Mark Cubbon

7. Jayanagar: Translates to 'Victory City' named after the first name of a famous king of Mysore, "Jayachamaraja"

3/n

8. Indiranagar: Named after Indira Gandhi
9. Basavanagudi: Basava means bull, gudi means temple. Bull Temple
10. JP Nagar: Named after Jay Prakash Narayan
11. Kengeri: Derived from Kempu Mannu (red soil) + Keri (area)

4/n

12. Rajarajeswari Nagar: Named after the temple there
13. KR market: Named after King Krishnarajendra Wodeyar
14. Fraser town: Named after Stuart Mitford Fraser, a British officer
15. Hulimavu: Means sour mangoes. Named after mangoes grown in the area

5/n

16. Ulsoor: There used to be a jackfruit orchard near the Ulsoor Lake, and the Kannada name for Jackfruit being 'Halasina Hannu', the area came to be known as Halasuru. During the British rule, the name was anglicised to 'Ulsoor'.

6/n

17. Marathahalli: They say that there was a temple of Maruti in the locality and Halli meaning village in Kannada. Other people believe that a fighter aircraft called “Marut” crash landed at the place.

7/n

18. Whitefield: A huge number of Anglo Indians used this area to settle down post Independence.

19. Bellandur: Named after the Bellandur Lake that was built during the reign of the Western Ganga dynasty in the 10th century (yes the lake is man-made)

8/n

20. Vijayanagara: Derives its name from Vijayanagara empire that flourished in South India during the 15th and 16th centuries.

21. Sadashivnagar: Named in honour of Karnad Sadashiva Rao, a veteran freedom fighter, philanthropist and politician.

9/n

22. Koramangala: Koramangala used to be swamp land once upon a time, famous for being marshy and mosquito-ridden. Name derived from the Kannada words ‘kora’ meaning overhaul and ‘mangala’ meaning ‘welfare.’

10/n

23. Lavelle Road: Named after Michael Lavelle, an Irish soldier who discovered gold mining in Kolar

24. Vittal Mallya Road (formerly Grant Road): Named after Vittal Mallya, founder of UB Group

25: Kasturba Road (formerly Sydney Road): Named after Kasturba Gandhi

11/n

26. Dollars Colony: As the name suggests, the homes in Dollars Colony was built by NRIs who turned to Bangalore looking for its great weather and quiet lifestyle

27. Arekere: Are in Kannada means half. Kere in Kannada means a water reservoir or pond. Named after lake.

12/n

28. Basaveshwaranagar: Named after the famous Kannada poet Basaveshwara

29. Domlur: Derived from Tombalur, a kind of flower which is used to worship Lord Shiva. Other theory being Domalu (mosquito in Telugu) + ooru (village)

30. Hebbal: Named after the lake

13/n

31. Jeevanbheemanagar: The area was reserved for employees of LIC (Jeevan Bheema) and KPWD (Karnataka Public Works Department)

32. Rajajinagar: Named after Rajaji the great freedom fighter from Southern part of India

33. Rajarajeshwari Nagar: Named after the temple

14/n

34. Nagarbhavi: Literally translates to "well of snakes" in Kannada. Once there used to be a lot snakes in the vicinity

35. Kodigehalli: This place/area was reportedly given as a gift(gift = Koduge in Kannada) by the former King Kempegowda to someone

15/n

36. Madiwala: Translates to 'washerman' in Kannada. Years when Bangalore ended in Jayanagar, this area was full of washermen and hence the area got the same name

16/n

37. Sunkadkatte: The area was like a tollgate which was next to Lake and in Kannada Sunka means Tax and Katte means place where we can sit

38. Seshadripuram: The area was named after the late Diwan of Mysore Seshadri Iyer

17/n

39. Doddanekundi: The area was again dominated by Telugu origin where it was originally called as Dodda Nakka Vundi which means ‘There’s a big jackal there’ which then became Doddanekundi in the Kannada usage

40. RT Nagar: Named after Rabindranath Tagore

18/n

Source Credits: Quota, The Hindu, Bro4u, SiliconIndia and our very own Google :D

Please add to the list the ones I might have missed.
Dhanyavaadagalu🙏

41. Padmanabhanagara (ಪದ್ಮನಾಭನಗರ): Named after CJ Padmanaha who served as Bangalore City Corporation (BCC) Commissioner in the late 1960 and Chairman of the City Improvement Trust Board (today's equivalent of the BDA) in 1970s.

19/n

42. NR Colony: Named after King Narasimharaja Wodeyar

43.Ramamurthy Nagara named after Ma. Ramamurthy, a notable Kannada activist

20/n

44.Pottery Town: Known to have housed a large no. of Tamil potters. They still do

45.Austin Town: The Mecca of football in Bangalore along with Gowthampura. Named after the Collector & Municipal president of the Civil & Military Station, Sir. James Austin

21/n

46.Cooke Town: Named after GH Cooke, President of the Bangalore Civil & Military Station Municipality from 1928-1934. The place still has a nice colonial charm

47. Cox Town: Named after the last Collector & DM of the Bangalore Civil & Military Station, AR Cox, ICS

22/n

48. Tannery Road : Slaughterhouses & tanneries were established here by the British over a 100 years ago. They were located at a 'safe distance' from the upscale localities in the Cant. area. Acting as a demarkation of areas to avoid inter-mingling b/w the social groups

23/n

*Correction for 15. Hulimavu: M̶e̶a̶n̶s̶ ̶s̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶m̶a̶n̶g̶o̶e̶s̶.̶ ̶N̶a̶m̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶f̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶m̶a̶n̶g̶o̶e̶s̶ ̶g̶r̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶a̶. Derived from its old name Amarapura which means sour mango.

49. Vidyaranyapura: The township is named after the great Kannada poet, saint and priest Vidyaranya.

Do tell us if your locality is missing in the above thread.

24/n

50.Ejipura: Ejipura is a low-lying area. There used to be lake in the area that people used to swim in. Eju means 'swim' in Kannada.

51.Vajarahalli: Named after the ancient temple of Vajra Muneshwara located there

52.Sanjaynagar: Named after Sanjay Gandhi

25/n

53.Mathikere: Possibly because the lake there used to be full of Sardines (Mathi meenu) (Needs validation)

54.Sahakarnagar: Formed by Ministry of Communication Employees housing society

26/n

Additional info on 50: Ejipura

Ejipura is from EG Puram as it was next to an army Equestrian Ground (needs validation)

55.Girinagar: Named after former President VV Giri
56.Vasanthapura: Named after Vasantha Vallabharaya Swamy Temple
57.Tin factory: Because of Tin manufacturing company situated in that locality

27/n

We need your help in identifying the origins of following localities:

Kundalahalli
Kathriguppe

Srinagar
Hosakerehalli

Kumaraswamy Layout
Kammanahalli

Ullalu Upanagara
Maruthi Nagara

Uttarhalli
Sunkadakatte

Srigandhadakavalu
Yeshwantapura

58. Guttahalli: It was the original area for the palace servants and gardeners, IIRC. and Vyalikaval was the original palace stables. Rocks/hillocks etc. It was a woodsy area near the kadu malleshwara temple.

(Informative but needs origin story)

28/n

Need help on these:

Kundalahalli
Kathriguppe
Srinagar
Hosakerehalli
Kumaraswamy Layout
Kammanahalli
Ullalu Upanagara
Maruthi Nagara
Uttarhalli
Sunkadakatte
Srigandhadakavalu
Yeshwantapura
OMBR Layout
Jalahalli
Nelamangala
Yelahanka

59: Yeshwantpura:

As a token of friendship to Maharaja Srimant Yeshwantrao Hindurao Ghorpade, Sri Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar renamed the Railway station in the area after his name.

29/n

60: Kumaraswamy Layout:

Named after a temple dedicated to Lord Kumaraswamy in the area.
Kumaraswamy Layout was formed in the late 1980s by the BDA.

30/n

61.Mekhri Circle: Named after Enayathulla Mekhri, the land lord who gave away his land for the construction of road

62.Hampinagara: Earlier RPC layout (Railway Parallel Chord road Layout). Named after the city of Hampi

63.Vijayanagar: Named after the famous dynasty

31/n

64.Srinagar: It was the new name given to Dasarahalli
65: Guttahalli: Sunkenahalli became Gavipuram extension also called Guttahalli

All three “villages” come together even today to perform the rituals at Ramanajaneya temple

(Informative but needs name origins)

32/n

66:Hosakerehalli:

There was a lake called Hosakere which got dried up and that's how the name. And this earlier belonged to RR Nagar CMC.

(Needs validation)

33/n

Update on 30.Hebbal:

Hebbal: It is periya (big) + poLalu(village) => perbolalu => hebbaLa

Etymology of Hebbal -> (periya+polal) perbolal-> pebbolal->pebbol->pebbala->pebbala->hebbala

67.OMBR Layout: Old Madras road-Banaswadi Road layout, meaning the area between Old Madras Road and Banaswadi Road.

68.Yelahanka: It was know as Ilaipakka Nadu during the Cholas. Later during the Vijaynagar reign, it was called Elahakanad.

34/n

69.Allalasandra: Recently in 2018 archeologists found a stone inscription called Allalasandra shasana. Allalasandra is named after Allalanatha temple,which doesn't exist now

70.Jakkur: Named after Jakkur lake

35/n

Update on 18.Whitefield:

Whitefield was named after D.S.White who introduced settlement for Anglo Indians in the region.

These are open on our list:

Srinagar
Kammanahalli
Ullalu Upanagara
Maruthi Nagara
Uttarhalli
Srigandhadakavalu
Jalahalli
Nelamangala
Chamrajpet
Ittamadu
Talaghattapura
Vrishabhavati
Sarjapura
Attibele
GorguntePalya
KR Puram
Vannarpet
Grant Road
Sydney Road
Horamavu
Agara
Peenya

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