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Hyderabad to be Renamed Bhagyanagar? Here’s How The Name Originates

After Aurangabad, will Hyderabad get new name after Bhagyalaxmi temple, which became the cynosure after Union Minister Amit Shah offered prayers before undertaking Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) election campaign in November 2020. Read full story.

Updated: July 4, 2022 10:54 AM IST

By India.com News Desk | Edited by Surabhi Shaurya

Hyderabad to be renamed Bhagyanagar? Here's How The Name Originates
Hyderabad to be renamed Bhagyanagar? Here's How The Name Originates (Representational Image)

Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has created ripples in Hyderabad yesterday when he referred to Telangana capital as Bhagyanagar during his address to the delegates from across the country. During Bharatiya Janata party’s national executive meeting here, PM Modi said that it was in Bhagyanagar that Sardar Patel, the freedom fighter icon, had coined the term “Ek Bharat”. Speaking to reporters after the PM’s address, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said,” PM Modi said that Hyderabad is Bhagyanagar which is a significance for all of us. Sardar Patel kept the foundation of a unified India and now it’s BJP’s responsibility to carry it further.” On being asked if Hyderabad’s name will be changed to Bhagyanagar, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said, “When the BJP comes into power in the state, the chief minister will decide this along with the cabinet colleagues.”

For the unversed, BJP leaders including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have been demanding for to rename Hyderabad as Bhagyanagar. “People often ask me if Hyderabad can be renamed Bhagyanagar. I tell them why not,” CM Yogi had said last year during the BJP’s campaign for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls.

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Never Ending Debate Over Name of Hyderabad

While there has been an unending debate over the name of Hyderabad—whether it was called Bhagyanagar and later rechristened, people are unaware that this specific aspect is connected to a legend or a love story between Hyderabad’s founder Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah and a Hindu woman named Bhagmati.

It has been said that Quli Qutb Shah, the fifth of the Golconda kings (who founded Hyderabad), was in love with Bhagmati even before Hyderabad was founded. His father, Ibrahim Qutb Shah, constructed the Puranapul bridge so that his son could go meet his lover. Later Quli Qutb Shah married Bhagmati. He renamed the new city he founded (after vacating the Golconda fort, which was a walled city) after her: Bhagnagar. Historians also believed that the city’s name was changed to Hyderabad after Bhagmati converted to Islam.

Bhagyalaxmi Temple Behind Renaming Hyderabad

The Bhagyalaxmi temple became the cynosure after Union Minister Amit Shah offered prayers before undertaking Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) election campaign in November 2020.


Amit Shah offering prayers at Bhagyalaxmi Temple (File Photo)Amit Shah offering prayers at Bhagyalaxmi Temple (File Photo)

Amit Shah offering prayers at Bhagyalaxmi Temple (File Photo)

Located adjacent to historic monument Charminar, it is a small temple dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi. Made of bamboo poles and tarpaulins, the temple, which is under care of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has a tin roof. The origin of the temple is currently disputed and the current structure that houses the idol was erected in the 1960s. In 2012, Telangana High Court stopped any further expansion of the temple. In 2013, ASI declared the temple structure as an unauthorised construction.

The temple is visited by a large number of Hindu traders and businessmen. During festivals, especially Diwali, the temple witnesses long queues of devotees.

In its report, the Hindu had supported that claim that Temple was built in the 1960s and produced pictures of Charminar taken in the year 1957 and 1962 showing that no temple existed at the said location.  A picture taken in 1986 shows the temple structure. In 2012, Archaeological Survey of India in an RTI response categorized the temple structure as an unauthorised construction. A case was filed in the High court, opposing the encroachment of Charminar by the temple authorities. High court ordered to maintain the status quo and banned any further construction of the temple

Controversy Not New to Bhagyalaxmi Temple

November 1979: Bhagyalaxmi temple was attacked and desecrated in November 1979, after an armed group seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca, following which the MIM called for a bandh in the Old City of Hyderabad. As Diwali was approaching, many Hindu shopkeepers requested the MIM to allow them to keep their shops open, consequently resulting in clashes.

September 1983: 45 people were killed in communal riots in September 1983 during the Ganeshotsava celebrations. Saffron organizations had put up big cloth banners at a number of places in the area asking for the declaration of India as a Hindu republic. In this charged atmosphere, it was alleged a Muslim threw a stone at the temple. Saffron organisations desecrated a mosque in retaliation and placed idols and pictures of Hindu Gods which resulted in local Muslim leaders calling for a bandh.

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