Lucknow, Feb 7 (IANS): After renaming Allahabad as Prayagraj and Faizabad as Ayodhya, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is ready to change the name of Basti district to Vashishth Nagar or Vashishthi.

The district administration has sent a proposal to the state government.

A year ago, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had named the Basti Medical College as Maharishi Vashishth Medical College, which led to the demand for renaming the district too.

A proposal in this regard was sent to the revenue board two months ago after which the board sought clarifications form the district officials.

Divisional Commissioner Anil Kumar Sagar has now sent a report to the revenue board.

According to official sources, the cost of renaming the district will be around Rs one crore.

It is noteworthy that BJP MP from Basti, Harish Dwiwedi, and BJP MLA, Ajay Kumar Singh, have already written to the chief minister seeking renaming of the district.

Maharishi Vashishth is one of the most respected Vedic saints.

He is the subject of many mythologies, such as him being in possession of the divine cow Kamdhenu and Nandini her child, who could grant anything to their owners. He is famous in Hindu mythologies for his legendary conflicts with Sage Vishwamitra too.

It is believed that the original name of Basti was Vashishthi.