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Why was Mysore state renamed Karnataka in 1973?
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Karnataka
Keshava Temple, Somanathapura, Karnataka, India.
The state of Mysore was renamed Karnataka in 1973 to better reflect the linguistic identity of the region.12
The name Karnataka is historically associated with the area defined by the use of the Kannada language. Following the linguistic reorganization of India in 1953 and 1956, territories from neighboring regions were added to the existing princely state of Mysore to consolidate the Kannada-speaking population. By 1973, the state government adopted the name Karnataka to more accurately represent this unified linguistic region, rather than the name Mysore, which historically referred specifically to the former princely state and its capital city (now Mysuru).123