There are several legends explaining how Ballari got its name. The first is that a few devout travelling merchants halting in Ballari, could not find a Shiva Linga for their worship. They then installed a balla(a measuring cup or seru used to measure grain) upside down as a Shiva Linga and worshiped it. Eventually, that place was turned into a temple dedicated to Balleshwara or Shiva, which became distorted to Malleshwara’, and thus Ballari derives its name from this temple.[7]
The second legend is that the city is named after Indra, the king of Gods, who slew a Rakshasa(demon) named Balla who lived nearby. Balla-ari means’enemy of Balla’(ari – enemy in Sanskrit).[8] The third legend derives the city’s name from the old Kannada word Vallari and Vallapuri.[8]
This temple can still be found in the fort area of the city, and an annual festival and fair dedicated to Shiva is conducted at the temple premises even today.[citation needed] Central government have approved the request to rename the city in October 2014 and Bellary is renamed(along with other 12 cities) to "Ballari" on 1 November 2014