“During the ‘Hoysala’ period, the region was known as Vijayapura, later under Adil Shahi dynasty’s rule, it became Bijapur. The name was changed back to Vijayapura. Now, many people have demanded that it be renamed as Basaveshwara district. It is natural as this district is the birthplace of Basavanna, and there is nothing wrong in it,” Patil, who represents the Bableshwar constituency in Vijayapura district, said.
Speaking to reporters, he said, “There are some technical issues though. Bijapur became Vijayapura, and if it has to become Basaveshwara, there will be some inconvenience, as change in nomenclature will have to be done in a lot of places. There are such concerns raised. I will discuss with the chief minister and after considering pros and cons, we will decide.” With the union government giving its approval to change the names of 12 cities in Karnataka, including its capital from Bangalore to Bengaluru in 2014, Bijapur came to be known as Vijayapura.
Responding to a question regarding his opinion about renaming Karnataka as ‘Basava Nadu’, Patil said, “It’s natural, what’s wrong in it? It was Basavanna who gave ‘Anubhava Mantapa’, the first Parliament of the world. He gave the social concept. We keep saying that our land should become ‘Basava Nadu’ and that we must embrace ‘Basava Samskruti’.”
Also, there are demands to declare Basavanna as Karnataka’s cultural icon or leader, he said. “There are also demands to name the entire metro rail network (in Bengaluru) after Basaveshwara. Similarly, the Vijayapura airport must be named after him. Will discuss with the chief minister and take an appropriate decision.” One of Karnataka’s politically dominant communities — the Lingayats — which is said to constitute about 17 per cent of the state’s population, finds its origins with Basavanna. Though the community is spread across the state, it is predominant in the North Karnataka region. Patil belongs to this community.
Source: Economic Times
