Kan: ಹುಬ್ಬಳ್ಳಿ hubbaḷḷi
‘Flowering Creeper’, ‘Gateway’ [Hubballi, Pubballi] City/District, Karnataka (Kar)
From Kan: pu→hū(v)u, ‘flower’; v→baḷḷi, ‘creeper’, ‘vine’; and Skt: dvāratā, ‘gateway’, ‘stopover’.
It has been suggested that Dharwad was a stopover for travellers heading to and from the Malnad mountains and the Deccan plateau. The two cities, separated by no more than 20km come under one municipal corporation in 1961. The city thrived as a commercial centre under both the Vijayanagara Empire and British Raj. Today it is the second largest city in Karnataka and is nicknamed the Chota Mumbai [Hin: chhoṭā, ‘little’].
Hubballi is in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the longest railway platform in the world . The Hubballi is an important junction for lines heading to Bengaluru, Hosapete and Vasco-Da-Gama/Belagavi. The station has recently had a Rs. 200 million facelift and redevelopment.
