Indian Railways has decided to rename the Arasalu railway station to Malgudi railway station, which is on the Shivamogga-Talaguppa railway line in Karnataka. The station is located in Hosanagar taluka in the state.
This place is special as some of the scenes from the TV series Malgudi Days were shot here. This is Indian Railways’ way of paying homage to the legendary Shankar Nag, who directed and acted in Malgudi Days. Along with renaming the station, Indian Railways has also decided to renovate it as the old railway station where a lot of scenes from Malgudi Days were shot is in a dilapidated state. According to reports, they have a budget of Rs 1.3 crore to do so.
According to Member of Parliament from Shivamogga BY Raghavendra they have plans to set up a Malgudi Days museum near the station. “I discussed the matter of renaming the station and setting up the museum with the Divisional Manager and the response was enthusiastic,” said the MP. The Railway Ministry, in 2011, had renamed the Yeshwantpur-Mysuru Express as Malgudi Express