Gurgaon district will now be known as Gurugram

Gurgaon: The Haryana government on Tuesday decided to rename Gurgaon district as Gurugram district.

The decision was taken by the Manohar Lal Khattar government in view of demands by people of the area.

The decision to change the name of Gurgaon to Gurugram has been taken on the basis of the representations received at several fora, an official spokesman said.

"Haryana is a historic land of the Bhagwat Gita and Gurgaon had been a centre of learning," the spokesman added.

As per the Gurgaon district's official website, the district in ancient times “used to be known as Guru-gram, which in course of time got distorted to Gurgaon.”

“Gurgaon district derived its name from the name of Guru Dronacharya; the village was given as gurudakshina to him by his students, the Pandavas, and hence it came to be known as Guru-gram, which in course of time got distorted to Gurgaon. Thus, the district has been existence since the times of Mahabharata,” the official website states.

It was not clear if the decision will also affect the name of 'Gurgaon city', which has become a face of a rapidly growing India.

The Gurgaon district is divided into three sub-divisions - Gurgaon North, Gurgaon South and Pataudi - which are further divided into five tehsils, namely, Gurgaon, Sohna, Pataudi, Farukh Nagar, Manesar. It also comprises four blocks - Pataudi, Sohna, Gurgaon and Farrukhnagar.

The state government today also decided to change the name of Mewat district to Nuh.

Mewat, in fact, is a geographical and cultural unit and not a town. It is spread beyond Haryana in the adjoining states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, the spokesman said.

(With agency inputs)