Centre Renames Port Blair as ‘Shri Vijaya Puram’

New Delhi: The Centre has renamed the capital city of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Port Blair, as ‘Shri Vijaya Puram’.

Port Blair was named after Captain Archibald Blair, a British colonial navy official of the East India Company.

Home Minister Amit Shah announced the change of name in a post on X and said, “While the earlier name had a colonial legacy, Sri Vijaya Puram symbolises the victory achieved in our freedom struggle and the A&N Islands’ unique role in the same.”

“Andaman and Nicobar Islands have an unparalleled place in our freedom struggle and history. The island territory that once served as the naval base of the Chola Empire is today poised to be the critical base for our strategic and development aspirations,” Shah said.

“It is also the place that hosted the first unfurling of our Tiranga by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Ji and also the cellular jail in which Veer Savarkar Ji and other freedom fighters struggled for an independent nation,” the Home Minister added.

The BJP led NDA government In July changed Rashtrapati Bhavan’s ‘Durbar Hall’ and ‘Ashok Hall’ were renamed ‘Ganatantra Mandap’ and ‘Ashok Mandap’, respectively.