Previously, Tulungagung was only a small area located surrounding a location where the center of the town is situated now. That area was named Tulungagung, because it provided a great water source - in Old Javanese language, tulung means water source, and agungmeans big. The larger area are called Ngrowo. Ngrowo was still used as the name of Tulungagung until 20th Century, when the capital city location was moved from Kalangbret to Tulungagung.