Allahabad which state

It is a city of mixed culture of Hindu, Muslims, Jains and Christians. Its sanctity is manifest by references to it in Purans, the Ramayan and the Mahabharata. The bathing at Prayag is mentioned in Brahma Puran — in the month of Magha at the bank of Ganga Yamuna in Prayag bestows results of millions and millions of Ashvmedha Yajna. Prayag is birth place of Som, Varuna and Prjapati. Prayag has been associated with mythological personalities in Brahmanical Vedic and Buddhist Literatures.

It was the seat of the great sage Bhardwaj, sage Durvasa and Sage Pannas sage Bhardwaj lived here circa BC and taught more than disciples. He was the greatest philosopher of ancient world. The present Jhunsi area, very close to sangam was the kingdom of Chandrabanshiya lunar clan King Pururava.

Nearby Kaushambi bloomed to prosperity during Vatsa and Maurya Rule. The earliest monument of antiques Ashok Pillar with inscriptions of third century B. This city was the heart of the Indian Freedom Movement against the British rule with Anand Bhawan being the epicentre.

It was in Prayagraj then known as Allahabad Mahatama Gandhi proposed his program of non-violent resistance to liberate India. Prayagraj has provided the largest number of prime ministers of Post independence India Pt. Prayagraj is basically an Administrative and Educational city. Just this week, the state's chief minister announced Faizabad district would now be called Ayodhya.

Then the BJP government in Gujarat said it wanted to change the name of the state's largest city from Ahmedabad to Karnavati. Many see renaming Allahabad as a continuation of the party's policy to change Muslim names of cities and towns. But the BJP, which also leads the national government in Delhi, insists that the decision to rename Allahabad has nothing to do with politics since Prayagraj is the "real name" of the city.

The party claims that it is only trying to "correct history" as it was Akbar who changed Prayagraj's name to Illahabad which means a place where Allah lives in Professor NR Farooqui, former vice-chancellor of Allahabad University, says several historical documents and books prove that Prayagraj was never a sprawling city.

The place has been mentioned in several Hindu scriptures as well. But it was never a city," he says. He adds that Akbar laid the foundation of a new city in and named it Ilahabas. He built a massive fort and used it as an administrative and military centre to rule northern India. The next generation of Mughal rulers started calling it Illahabad, and finally, the British started calling it "Allahabad" for ease of pronunciation.

But it continued to be Illahabad in the local Hindi and Urdu languages. The city has witnessed many historical moments between and Mughal rulers continued to use the city as a regional power centre. It played an important role in India's freedom movement as Nehru's house, Anand Bhavan, became the "headquarters" for independence leaders, and later for the Congress party.

In the first few decades after India's independence, the city flourished as a major cultural and political centre. Many prominent Hindi writers, politicians, actors, scientists and civil servants from the city went on to become legends in their fields. And the common thread in all their success stories was Allahabad. But it's now broken. It didn't matter whether an achiever from the city was Hindu or Muslim - it celebrated everybody," Professor Chaturvedi says.

He acknowledges the name Prayagraj, but says people will always identify themselves with Allahabad. But erasing the name Allahabad is like killing the city's soul. Allahabad is not just a name - it's a feeling that every person who grew up in the city carries," he says. Suresh Yadav, former student leader of Allahabad University, believes the city will continue to have multiple identities.

Nothing will change that. Allahabad will continue to retain this identity," he says. Many residents of the city find it difficult to accept the decision. They have always taken pride in calling themselves Allahabadis. One of the most famous Urdu poets called himself Akbar Allahabadi. It's hard to believe that we may now have to call the great poet "Akbar Prayagraji". Millions bathe at Indian festival.

British-era station causes political storm in India. Image source, Ankit Srinivas.