Kerala is now Keralam: how the name changed and what it alters

Kerala’s official name is now Keralam. The Union Home Ministry issued a gazette notification on 25 August 2026 appointing that day as the date the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Act, 2026 came into force, The News Minute and Onmanorama reported. The notification came just before Onam.

The Act changes the state’s name in the First Schedule of the Constitution, according to PRS Legislative Research. Keralam is the state’s name in Malayalam.

How the name was changed

Article 3 of the Constitution lets Parliament alter the name of a state by law. Such a Bill needs the President’s recommendation, and the President must first refer it to the state legislature for its views, Onmanorama explained on 26 August.

From Kerala to Keralam

1. 24 Jun 2024Kerala Assembly passes a resolution seeking the name Keralam; the state sends it to the Centre
2. 2026President refers the Bill to the Kerala Assembly, which backs it unanimously (date not confirmed)
3. 10 Aug 2026Bill introduced in Lok Sabha by the Home Ministry
4. 11 Aug 2026Lok Sabha passes the Bill by voice vote
5. 12 Aug 2026Rajya Sabha passes the Bill by voice vote
6. By 18 Aug 2026President Droupadi Murmu gives assent
7. 25 Aug 2026Home Ministry notification brings the Act into force

The Assembly’s 2024 resolution linked the demand to the 1956 reorganisation of states on linguistic lines and noted that Kerala Piravi, the state’s formation day, falls on 1 November, Onmanorama reported.

What changes

From 25 August, “Keralam” replaces “Kerala” as the state’s name in the Constitution. “The Bill provides that the State of Kerala will be known as the State of Keralam,” Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai told the Rajya Sabha, according to The News Minute.

The Act also makes the consequential amendments the change requires, according to Onmanorama and The News Minute. The reports LokVox reviewed do not list those amendments or say whether the names of bodies such as the High Court, state universities or public corporations will change. The text of the Act will settle that.

How Parliament handled it

The Lok Sabha passed the Bill on 11 August by voice vote without discussion, during opposition protests over a separate issue, Kerala Kaumudi reported. Congress MPs had asked that it not be taken up that day because members from Kerala would not get a chance to speak. Rai said the change was being made at the demand of Kerala’s MPs and that the opposition’s stand was wrong.

The Rajya Sabha debated the Bill and passed it by voice vote on 12 August, Onmanorama reported. Rai said the Bill was brought “to honour the State’s request”, All India Radio reported.

Members across parties backed the change. Union Minister Suresh Gopi called it “a celebratory moment for over four crore Malayalis around the globe” and alleged that Congress and CPI(M) members had prevented a discussion in the Lok Sabha. Tiruchi Siva (DMK), Derek O’Brien (Trinamool) and Sanjay Singh (AAP) spoke in support, All India Radio reported. Congress MP Jebi Mather Hisham welcomed the change but raised other political issues, which the Chair kept off the record, Onmanorama reported.

Other renaming demands surfaced in the debate. BJP MP Samik Bhattacharya called for West Bengal to be renamed Paschim Banga, describing the current name as a “colonial legacy”. Rai replied that the Centre could consider such a proposal if it reflected the state’s heritage and its people’s wishes, Onmanorama reported.