Yogi wants restoration of the name of ‘Prayagraj’ in lieu of ‘Allahabad’. Oppn calls it attempt to change history.

Representational Image

UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath to rename Allahabad as ‘Prayagraj’, Opposition protests.

UNI | Allahabad | Oct 14, 2018:: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday announced that very soon Allahabad would be known as Prayagraj as demanded by the saints and others.

The CM made this announcement before the media after the meeting of the Kumbh Margdarshak Mandal here.

The CM said state governor Ram Naik had already supported the demands of the saints and people of the Sangam city.

” The government will soon sent the proposal of changing the name of the city soon to the centre”, he said.

Yogi Adityanath, being the Mahant (Chief Pontiff) of the Gorakshnath Peeth in Gorakhpur also announced that pilgrims would be able to see and worship the Akshyabat and Saraswati kup during the Kumbh Mela at Sangam early next year.

Earlier in July last, UP Minister Sidharthnath Singh had demanded the same and sent a letter to Governor Ram Naik in this regard.

“Mr Naik (former MP from Maharashtra) had helped ‘Bombay’ to be renamed as ‘Mumbai’.

I have written to him to consider renaming Allahabad as ‘Prayagraj’, a long pending demand of the saints and people of the city,” said the UP minister in his letter.

Mr Singh, grandson of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, hails from the Sangam city and had been demanding for the same from the day BJP came to power in the state.

Read Also: Yogi Renames ‘Allahabad’ as ‘Prayagraj’, Oppn Calls it Attempt to Toy With History

Yogi Adityanath takes Allahabad to Prayagraj after 443 years: A recap of History.

India Today | New Delhi | Oct 15, 2018::  Allahabad is one of the biggest religious centres in India. In Uttar Pradesh, Allahabad is also the seat of the high court, state public service commission and a leading educational centre in the state. It will soon have a new official name Prayagraj. This is actually taking up its old identity.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced that Allahabad will be renamed ahead of the Ardh Kumbh Mela in January next year. Allahabad was named so in 1575 by Mughal Emperor Akbar, who called it, Illahabas meaning the abode of God.

Before Akbar rechristened it, Allahabad was known as Prayag. Some medieval texts, including Akbar’s court historian Abul Fazl called it Piyag. Rig Veda and some of the Puranas mention about this place giving it a high religious value in India.

It is believed that Brahma, the creator of universe, performed or attended a sacrificial ritual at Prayag. Some texts relate this place with the son-in-law of Lord Shiva and Parvati who ruled over this place before moving to the Sapta Saindhav region. His name was Yayati. He was married to Ashokasundari, the daughter of Parvati and Lord Shiva.

The Sapta Saindhav region is the most referred place in Rig Veda. It is the area captured by Indus and now extinct mystical river Saraswati and their tributaries. Yayati had five sons, who went on to give the five most prominent tribes mentioned in Rig Veda.

The association of Allahabad or Prayag with the Kumbh Mela is old. It was also known as Magh Mela. But its antiquity is not certain. Chinese Hiuen Tsang mentions about it in his memoir. Hiuen Tsang talks about an ancient annual fair being held at Prayag in 644 AD.

Akbar is said to have been impressed with both the strategic location of Allahabad due to confluence of two of the mightiest rivers Ganga and Yamuna there and the religious significance of the place. During his visit to Allahabad, he named it Illahabas.

Illahabas soon had another variation in Illahabad. Coins minted during Akbar’s rule have both names. By the time of Shah Jahan, the name Illahabad had become popular. When the British colonial rulers established their rule over the region, Illahabad became Allahabad in English written in Roman script.

…

Courtesy: TNIE | IT | News 18.