Mangalore - Etymology

Etymology

Mangalore was named after the local Hindu deity Mangaladevi, the presiding deity of the Mangaladevi temple. According to local legend, Matsyendranath, the founder of the Nath tradition, arrived in the area with a princess from Kerala named Parimala or Premaladevi. Having converted Premaladevi to the Nath sect, Matsyendranath renamed her Mangaladevi. After her death, the Mangaladevi temple was consecrated in her honour at Bolar in Mangalore. The city got its name from the Mangaladevi temple.

One of the earliest references to the city's name was made in 715 CE by the Pandyan King Chettian, who called the city Mangalapuram. The 14th-century Arabian traveller Ibn Battuta referred to Mangalore as Manjarur in his chronicles. The city is also called Mangalūru, a reference to Mangaladevi (the suffix ūru means town or city). During the British occupation in 1799, Mangalore (anglicised from Mangalūru), stuck as the official appellation. However, according to historian George M. Moraes, the word "Mangalore" is the Portuguese corruption of Mangalūru.

Mangalore's diverse communities have different names for the city in their languages. In Tulu, the primary spoken language, the city is called Kudla, meaning junction, since the city is situated at the confluence of the Netravati and Gurupura rivers. In Konkani, Mangalore is referred to as Kodial. The Beary name for the city is Maikala, meaning wood charcoal, an attribution to the early practice of producing charcoal from wood on the banks of the Netravati river. On the occasion of Suvarna Karnataka (Golden Karnataka) in 2006, the Government of Karnataka stated that the city would be renamed Mangalooru, though this change in name is not implemented.