Centre approves Uttarakhand govt’s proposal Thursday, 12 June 2024 | my uttarakhand news | DEHRADUN As directed by chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Joshimath in Chamoli district will now be known as Jyotirmath. The union government has given its consent to the proposal of the Uttarakhand government to change the name of Joshimath tehsil to Jyotirmath. CM Dhami had declared in a programme in Ghat of Chamoli last year that the name of Joshimath would be changed to Jyotirmath. It is pertinent to mention here that the local people of Joshimath were demanding for a long time that the name of Joshimath should be changed to Jyotirmath. Following this demand the CM had decided to change the name of the historic town. The legend has it that Adi Guru Shankaracharya visited the area in the eighth century. It is believed that Shankaracharya got enlightenment here after he did Tapasya under a tree. The area was named as Jyotirmath because of the enlightenment ( Jyoti) to Adi Guru and the Jyotishwar Mahadev temple located here. The name Jyotirmath got converted to Joshimath in due course of time and it became prevalent. Bowing to the demand and sentiment of local people the government has now changed the name of the town.