Keralam: The New Name for Kerala
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday added a touch of humour to the Centre’s decision to rename Kerala as ‘Keralam,’ pondering what the residents of the state would now be called in English.
Reacting on X, Shashi Tharoor expressed that it is undoubtedly positive, but raised a small linguistic question for Anglophones: what happens now to the terms ‘Keralite’ and ‘Keralan’ for the people of the new ‘Keralam’? He remarked that ‘Keralamite’ sounds like a microbe, while ‘Keralamian’ resembles a rare earth mineral. Tharoor suggested that the Chief Minister of Kerala might want to launch a competition for new terms resulting from this electoral enthusiasm.
Why the Change to ‘Keralam’?
The decision comes after a unanimous resolution passed by the Kerala Legislative Assembly in June 2024. The resolution highlighted that the state’s name in Malayalam is “Keralam” and that this change would more accurately represent its historical, linguistic, and cultural identity.
Additionally, it noted that states were reorganised along linguistic lines on November 1, 1956, a date now commemorated as Kerala Piravi Day.
Since the period of the national independence movement, there has been a significant demand for a united Kerala for Malayalam-speaking individuals, as stated in the resolution.
However, while the term “Keralam” is recognised in Malayalam, the First Schedule of the Constitution continues to refer to the state as “Kerala.”
Thus, the Assembly urged the Central government to take prompt actions under Article 3 of the Constitution to officially change the name to “Keralam.”
With the Cabinet’s endorsement, the proposal will now be forwarded to the President of India. A Bill known as the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 will be drafted and presented to the Kerala Legislative Assembly for further input.
