The names of many places in Uttarakhand have been changed to reflect what Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami termed as 'public sentiment' and preservation of Indian culture and heritage. Name changes have been made in Haridwar, Dehradun, Nainital, and Udham Singh Nagar districts.
The recent tide of criticism against Mughal rulers is reflected in the change of the names of Aurangzebpur (Haridwar) to Shivaji Nagar, and Akbarpur Fazalpur in the same district to Vijayanagar. Shivaji and Aurangzeb were engaged in a complicated and long-drawn battle.
#WATCH | Delhi: 'Uttarakhand ka naam bhi Uttar Pradesh-2 kar dijiye' says Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav when asked about Uttarakhand CM's announcement of renaming 11 places in 4 districts of the state pic.twitter.com/KsLUiCqojh
— ANI (@ANI) April 1, 2025
There is also a nod to social activists and reformers with Chandpur being rebranded as Jyotiba Phule Nagar, while Khanpur Kursli has become Ambedkar Nagar. Both of these are also in Haridwar.
Dhami, while making the announcement, said that the change of names would inspire people to follow in the footsteps of great Indian reformers.
In Dehradun district, Miyanwala will be renamed Ramji Wala, Pirwala will become Kesari Nagar, Chandpur Khurd will now be known as Prithviraj Nagar, and Abdullah Nagar will be called Daksh Nagar.
There is also a saffron tinge to the renaming. In Nainital district, Nawabi Road will be renamed Atal Marg, and the road from Panchakki to ITI will be named Guru Golwalkar Marg. In Udham Singh Nagar, the Sultanpur Patti municipal council will be renamed Kaushalya Puri – after the name of the mother of Lord Ram.
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Other changes in Haridwar are Gajiwali which will now be Arya Nagar, Mohammadpur Jat which has become Mohanpur Jat, Indrishpur which has been renamed Nandpur, and Khanpur which will now be Shri Krishna Pur.
Uttarakhand has joined a number of states including Uttar Pradesh that have renamed places. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has often called for ‘erasing’ Mughal symbols that exist in names such as Akbarpur, Ghaziabad, Farukkhabad, Aligarh and Azamgarh.
The state's name 'Uttarakhand' itself was previously 'Uttaranchal', and it was changed to the current one during the Bharatiya Janata Party regime in 2006.
