Ever since the British left India in 1947, many streets, places and buildings throughout India were assigned new "Indian names". Tamil Nadu was no exception to this trend.
Even the state and its capital, Chennai along with many other cities, towns, streets and organisations were renamed post Indian Independence. Before the name changes, Madras (the city) used to be the capital of the much larger Madras (the state).
The Tamil Nadu state owned transport corporations operated buses to facilitate public transport in the state and interstate connectivity through roads. It named various corporations by prominent personalities/kings of regional/national importance. However the practice was scrapped and it started naming the corporations as TNSTC – Regional Division (Ex TNSTC Villupuram Division) after communal violence broke in the district of Virudhunagar during May 1997 after formation of Veeran Sundaralingam Transport corporation in which buses bearing the name Veeran Sundaralingam were burnt by some groups.