HYDERABAD: The venerable Lepakshi handicraft emporia that once paved way for several other handicraft and art object outlets in unified Andhra Pradesh, will now be called Golconda.

Orders to this effect were announced by the Chief Minister’s Office here on Tuesday. Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao signed orders with the decision to rename all Lepakshi outlets -- both in Telangana and outside -- as Golconda handicrafts emporia.

However, there was no word on whether the rechristened emporia and stores will continue to offer buyers the existing line of products that Lepakshi offers from different parts of unified Andhra Pradesh.

It is also uncertain at this point of time how Lepakshi properties would be divided between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and if existing store fronts in cities like New Delhi and Kolkata would be partitioned into two.

It may be recalled that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi-led government decided to call the Doordarshan channel dedicated to Telangana as Yadagiri, after the Sri Lakshminarasimha Swamy temple at Yadagirigutta.

Lepakshi is a brand owned by the AP Handicrafts Development Corporation with the company listed under the Ninth Schedule of the AP Reogranization Act. As per the Act’s provisions, organisations listed under this Schedule can be divided by the two states without the Central government’s intervention. However, as far as the distribution of assets and liabilities of Lepakshi between Telangana and AP is concerned, the Sheela Bhide Committee is yet to complete the task.

