Bhubaneswar, June 13: The Odisha government has approved the correction of English spellings of 64 places spread across 26 districts that were reportedly distorted during the colonial era.
The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday, coinciding with the completion of two years of the BJP government in the state.
Announcing the Cabinet’s decision, Chief Secretary Anu Garg said several place names have long been represented in English through spellings that do not accurately reflect their original Odia pronunciation. She cited examples such as “Aul,” which will be corrected to “Aali,” and “Balasore,” which will be revised to “Baleshwar.”
According to Garg, the Chief Minister had expressed concern that many existing English spellings fail to align with Odia phonetics, thereby diluting the state’s cultural identity and linguistic authenticity. Following his directions, district collectors across Odisha were tasked with identifying places where the officially used English names differed from their traditional Odia forms.
The state government received suggestions from district administrations, public representatives, and citizens before constituting a high-level committee under noted Odia litterateur Pratibha Ray to examine the proposals.
After reviewing the recommendations and placing them in the public domain for a month to invite public feedback, the committee finalized a list of 64 place names for correction. The Cabinet subsequently approved the proposed changes.
The Chief Secretary said the state government will issue a gazette notification and formally communicate the revised spellings to the Ministry of Home Affairs. Central agencies, including the Survey of India, Indian Railways, the Department of Posts, and the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, will be requested to update their official records accordingly.
Among the prominent changes, Cuttack will be written as Kataka, Angul as Anugola, Talcher as Talacher, and Bolangir as Balangir. Similarly, Bargarh will become Baragada, Nilgiri will be revised to Nilagiri, and Boudhgarh will be renamed Boudhagada.
Other notable corrections include Salipur to Salepur, Baramba to Badamba, Athagarh to Athagada, Deogarh to Debagada, and Junagarh to Junagada. The spelling of Khurda will also be updated to Khordha.
The initiative is being viewed as a major step towards restoring the historical and linguistic authenticity of place names while reinforcing Odisha’s cultural legacy for future generations.
