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When and why was Calcutta officially renamed Kolkata?
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Kolkata
Victoria Memorial Hall in Kolkata, India.
In 2001, the government of West Bengal officially changed the city's name from Calcutta to Kolkata.12
The name Calcutta was an Anglicized version of the Bengali name Kalikata. While the official change in 2001 aligned the city's name more closely with its local pronunciation and heritage, the origins of the name Kalikata itself remain a subject of historical interpretation. Some theories suggest it is derived from Kalikshetra, meaning "Ground of (the goddess) Kali," while others trace it to the location of the original settlement on a canal (khal) or to the area's historical association with the manufacture of shell lime (kali and kata).1