Tamil NaduSunday, 19 July 2026·The Hindu - Tamil Nadu
Nilgiris demand to restore Ooty name: Udhagamandalam, 1972 renaming and indigenous place-name history
Nilgiris residents have urged the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister to restore the historic name Ootacamund/Ooty, which was renamed Udhagamandalam in 1972.
Key highlights
Direct fact
In July 2026, on the occasion of Tamil Nadu Day, Nilgiris residents urged the Chief Minister to restore the historic name of Ootacamund, or Ooty, which was officially Sanskritised as Udhagamandalam in 1972.
Key specifics
- Ootacamund was renamed Udhagamandalam in 1972.
- D. Venugopal of the Nilgiri Documentation Centre (NDC) backed the demand to restore the name Ooty.
- Rev. A. Metz wrote in 1830 that the name came from a Toda mund called “Hottegemund”.
- Sir Frederic Price’s book “Ootacamund. A History” was published in 1908 and argued the name was not derived from English or Tamil.
- The “Badaga-English Dictionary” by Paul Hockings and Christiane Pilot-Raichoor was published in 1992 and records “Hotege” as the Badaga name for Ootacamund.
Exam lens
Question type: Tamil Nadu history and place-name change. Key facts: 1972, Udhagamandalam, Ooty/Ootacamund, 1830, 1908, 1992, Nilgiris, Badaga and Toda references. TNPSC may ask which hill station’s name was changed and in which year.