Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has issued a public notice proposing to change the English spellings of names for 24 places across the state, including several districts, to more accurately align them with their original Odia pronunciations and preserve the region’s linguistic, historical, and cultural heritage.
“All stakeholders likely to be affected by the proposed changes are hereby invited to submit their objections or suggestions, if any, in writing, along with supporting documents, to the undersigned within 15 days from the date of publication of this Public Notice,” the Revenue & Disaster Management Department said on February 4.
The notice specifies that late submissions will not be entertained. “In case no objection is received within the prescribed time, it shall be presumed that there is no objection fr
om the public, and the Government may proceed further in the matter as per law,” it added.
If finalised, the changes would standardise how these place names appear in English, following a similar rationale to the 2011 national-level shift from “Orissa” to “Odisha” (and “Oriya” to “Odia”), which aimed to better match the native Odia script and sound.
Among the most notable proposed revisions is the district name Khurda, which would become Khoradha. Other proposed changes include:
- Balasore to Baleshwar
- Keonjhar to Kendujhar
- Khondmal to Kandhamal
- Deogarh to Debagarh
- Angul to Anugol
- Nayagarh to Nayagada
- Kendrapara to Kendrapada
- Rairakhol to Redhakhol
- Podia to Padia
- Reamal to Riamal
- Bolagarh to Bolagada
- Banpur to Banapur
- Jatni to Jatani
- Pallahara to Palalahada
- Athagarh to Athagad
- Salipur to Salepur
- Baramba to Badamba
- Nilgiri to Nilagiri
- Aul to Ali
- Makalapara to Mahakalapada
- Barbil to Badbil
- Keonjhargarh to Kendujhargarh
- Daspalla to Dashapalla