Puducherry, earlier known as Pondicherry is the largest French civilization in India, a capital city and the most populous city of the Indian Union Territory of Puducherry. The architecture and the culture in the city is strongly influenced by the French which you can feel by visiting the old Bouganvellia-draped French-style houses, churches and French-style shops, indo-french cafes and the hotels. Puducherry shares its southeastern borders with Tamil state, giving it Tamilian touch too. Tamil is the main language spoken in the city along with French, English, Telugu and Malayalam. Puducherry is also called as Pondi by the local people of the city. The gross domestic product (GDP) of Puducherry is ₹210 billion (US$2.9 billion) and ranks 25th in India. Our excursion to Puducherry was 2 days weekend trip, in which we covered all the main spots in the city. The very famous road from Chennai to Pondicherry is ECR (East Road Coast). The distance between the cities is about 160 Kms which takes approximately 3.5 hours to reach Puducherry. This route is a picturesque one with running along the Bay of Bengal thus gives you the most captivating views throughout your journey.
We planned our trip in the order in which we can cover most of the atrractive landmarks in short course of time. Our day 1 included French colonies(the white town), Sri Aurobindo Ashram, French War Memorial and finally resting at the seashore of beguiling Promenade beach. French Colonies: French quarter in Pondicherry is the brightest place i have visited so far. The houses here are mainly painted in colours like sun burnt yellow, white, sky faded blue, ash grey or peach. This place is known so because the largest french colony stayed here till 1954. As it was a former headquarter of France, here you will find houses and cafes constructed in french architecture and also the food and the language have French influence. The buildings here have long and wide windows along with casta iron bars as grills, ostentatious balconies, circular or oval shaped gates and large courtyards. French Colonies: French quarter in Pondicherry is the brightest place i have visited so far. The houses here are mainly painted in colours like sun burnt yellow, white, sky faded blue, ash grey or peach. This place is known so because the largest french colony stayed here till 1954. As it was a former headquarter of France, here you will find houses and cafes constructed in french architecture and also the food and the language have French influence. The buildings here have long and wide windows along with casta iron bars as grills, ostentatious balconies, circular or oval shaped gates and large courtyards.
This place is also commonly called as 'White town' because of the French(earlier called whites) settlement here. Most of the good hotels and cafes are located in or near to French colonies. Food served in the restaurants here is a combination of Tamil and French tastes some of which includes baguettes and croissants with coffee for breakfast, ratatouille, coq au vin, bouillabaisse, that shows the French heritage and the South Indian meals served here are masala dosa, sambar or idly.wide windows along with caste iron bars as grills, ostentatious balconies, circular or oval shaped gates and large courtyards.
Shri Aurobindo Ashram: Shri Aurobindo Ashram as its name suggests is a spiritual community located in the eastern part of Pondicherry. It was founded in the year 1928 under the guidance of Mirra Alfassa who is popular known as "the Mother". This was the place where Sri Aurobindo along with his followers started a spiritual movement after his retirement from the politics. Later on 24 November 1926 when he got indulged into his spiritual work escaping from the public, he handed over the full responsibility of the lives of his spiritual aspirants known as sadhaks and the ashram to his spiritual "the Mother". This day is celebrated as the founding day of Ashram and devotees from all around the world come here to pay homage to Sri Aurobindo and the mother.
As per Sri Aurobindo the Ashram has been created with another object than that ordinarily common to such institutions, not for the renunciation of the world but as a centre and a field of practice for the evolution of another kind and form of life which would in the final end be moved by a higher spiritual consciousness and embody a greater life of the spirit.” The walls of the ashram is painted grey and white. The shrine includes guest houses, restaurants, dining hall, samadhi(shrine), playground, schools and various indoor activity places.
French War Memorial : The last spot of our day 1 in Pondicherry was French War Memorial. The monument is dedicated to the martyrs of French World War who resided in French India. The war memorial was built in 1971 and is constructed just opposite to the Mahatma Gandhi statue. Every year on 14th July celebrated as Bastille day, this place is beautifully decorated.
Promenade Beach: After completing our visit to the ashram we went to Promenade beach which is at a distance of 300m. It stretches for as long as 1.5 meters along Bay of Bengal and is considered to be the pride of Pondicherry. This place offers many attractive spots for the tourists on a single way. The beach is popularly known by different names such as rock beach, Gandhi beach or pondicherry beach. The coastline of the beach is covered with large rocks and tetrapods which is why it is also called as rock beach. The beach straight has a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the center making the place known as Gandhi beach. The best time to enjoy the beach view is at the time of sunrise or sunset or even in nights when moon sparkles on the sea waters.
Promenade beach is full of sea facing cafes and local souvenir shops. On our visit to the beach we went to the famous 'Gelateria Montecatini Terme' cafe which sells exotic flavors of ice creams. I would say if you are an ice cream lover this place is must for you. We also bought local souvenirs like handicrafts and candles as a token of memory for our loved ones.
We started day 2 of our trip with Auroville matrimandir and after that we covered places like the Christian pilgrimage: Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, reviving Bharathi Park and last but no the least Arulmigu Manakula Vinayagar Temple. Auroville Matrimandir: Auroville is a small township, at a distance of 10Kms from the city of Pondicherry and is based in the state of Tamil Nadu. It was founded by the Mother(Mirra Alfassa) in the year 1968 and was designed by architect Roger Anger. The vision of the Mother behind Auroville was marked by her saying: "Auroville wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realize human unity".
The matrimandir is the main attraction in the city with people from all around the world coming here to perform yoga and meditation. It is an edifice of spiritual significance, peace and harmony in the country. The matrimandir is situated in the large open space known as peace. It seems like a large golden globe coming out of the earth surrounded by twelve petals. The Geodesic dome is covered by golden discs that reflects sunlight giving the sphere its radiance. Inside the globe you will find a large hall known as the inner chamber built purposely for meditation. There are four pillars which are made in the directions of the compass that surrounds the central structure of the Matrimandir. As per the Mother these four pillars symbolizes her four great aspects, four of her leading Powers and Personalities that have stood in front of her in guidance of this Universe and in her dealings with the terrestrial play. The four pillars of Matrimandir are named as Maheshwari (south pillar), Mahakali (north pillar), Mahalakshmi (east pillar) and Mahasaraswati (west pillar).
To reach the main Matrimandir you have to walk for a distance of 2kms from its entrance point. There are also paid shuttle services available for the tourists which you can ask for in visitors centre. The entry inside the matrimandir is restricted and can only be availed if you have a prior booking done. The Tourist Information Centre of Auroville is the place where you can find all the information about the Auroville and it has all the amenities for the visitors. There are also many authentic restaurants and shops in the premises of the Information Centre where you can chiĺl and relax.
Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus church is situated on the south boulevard of Pondicherry. It is an ancient church whose construction got commenced in the year 1902 and finally established on 27 January 1908. The church is built in gothic architecture with beautiful large stained glass windows, pointed arches, ribbed vaults, flying buttresses, and ornate decoration. It contains stained glass panels depicting events in the life of Jesus Christ and built in the 18th century by the French missionaries. The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is one of the most famous pilgrimage center for the Christians in the city.
Bharathi Park: Bharathi park is the government park with lush green trees and plants situated near the Pondicherry bus stand. The park has a central monument in it known as the Aayi Mandapam or the park monument along with beautiful flower bed, wooden benches and the fountains. This place is best to rejuvenate yourself in peace and nature away from the scorching heat and pollution.
Bharathi park is in the favorites list for the people of all age groups. This place offers ponds for the children to play, granite benches for visitors to sit amd chit-chat, and also is a popular picnic destination for the families. Many film shootings are also done here in this park. Bharathi Park is surrounded by number of stately buildings such as, the Raj Nivas, the museum, the former French bandstand, Puducherry Art Gallery, Hotel Qualithe, the Legislative Assembly, the Cercle de Pondichery and the Chamber of Commerce. The timings to visit the park is from 6:00am to 9:00pm on all days.
Arulmigu Manakula Vinayagar Temple: Last but not the least we went to the ancient Arulmigu Manakula Vinayagar Temple, a Hindu pilgrimage site dedicated to lord Ganesha. The main deity of this temple is east facing "Manakula Vinayagar" (Pranavamurthy). There was a time when the temple was once bordered from the east side by Orlean Street (Now Manakula Vinayagar Koil Street), south by Jawaharlal Nehru Street, north by Law-de-Louristhon street and west by a canal running north–south.
There is a golden chariot placed in the temple which was made of the donations from the devotees. The weight of the gold used in the chariot is 7.5kg and may cost around 35laks INR. The temple has astonishing mythology associated with it which says that during the French rule, the french men attempted to remove the temple from where it stands by throwing the idol into the sea and whenever this was done, the idol used to re emerge where it stood, and hence it was never removed.
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