Allahabad will now be known as Prayagraj
The northern Indian city of Allahabad will henceforth be called Prayagraj after the Uttar Pradesh state cabinet cleared the change of name yesterday.
Saffron-robed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath had said a few days ago that Allahabad would become "Prayagraj" as it was what people "wished".
He wanted the new name in place before the annual Kumbh Mela, a spiritual gathering of thousands of Hindus and sages from across India at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati
"The renaming of Allahabad as Prayagraj before Kumbh was approved at the cabinet meeting and I am happy to say Allahabad will now be known as Prayagraj," UP minister Siddharth Nath Singh told reporters in Uttar Pradesh capital city Lucknow.
Singh said the name "Prayagraj" appears in ancient texts like the Rig Veda, Mahabharat and Ramayana.
Earlier, the Congress along with Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party had decried the proposal.
"... They have even re-named Ardh Kumbh to Kumbh. This is toying with tradition and belief," former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav tweeted.
Congress party on the other hand said that the change would diminish the importance that Allahabad had in the country's freedom movement. Some months ago, Mughalsarai railway station in Uttar Pradesh was named after Jan Sangh ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay.
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