My Visual Travel Experience: Pondicherry

My wife, my four year old son, and I spent three days in Pondicherry last week. We went via Chennai, where we attended the wedding of one of my very dearest friends. On the way back, we stopped in Mahabalipuram, and we had lunch at Taj Fisherman's Cove. During our Pondicherry stint, we stayed with my cousin sister and her husband in their beautiful home, Skandavan, in Auroville. Skandavan is spread over 2 acres of land, has a garden full of cashew nut and mango trees, and has a large pond outside filled with fish - the overall experience is that of being way out in the country, but with all the modern amenities and comforts that one can hope for. My cousin and her husband were very warm and hospitable, and it was great spending time with them. They also run an Airbnb place in their premises and I can well imagine guests really enjoying their stay there. The presence of their two lovable dalmatians, their cat, their hens and their fish, made the stay that much more memorable, especially for my young son.

Pondicherry is a Union Territory in the South of India surrounded by the State of Tamil Nadu. It has a population of over 650,000 and it lies around 160 km south of Chennai along the coast of the Bay of Bengal. The Union Territory has an area of 492 sq km. Since 2006, Pondicherry has also been named Puducherry.

The region was part of the Pallava Kingdom of Kanchipuram in the 4th century. The Chola Kingdom of Thanjavur was in power from the 10th to the 13th century. The 14th century saw  the Vijayanagar Empire coming to power. In the 17th century, the Sultan of Bijapur took over. In 1674, the French East India company established the city as its headquarters. A canal separated the city into the French Quarter and the Indian Quarter. In 1761, the British captured Pondicherry from the French. Two years later, the French took control again, after the Treaty of Paris in 1763. From 1793 to 1814, the British were again in charge of Pondicherry. 

In the 1850’s, the British took control over India but they allowed the French to retain control over their settlements. Pondicherry continued to be a part of French India until 1954, after which it became a part of the Union of India as a Union Territory. Tamil is the predominant language in Pondicherry, but French is also spoken fairly widely. There are French institutions like Alliance Francaise, and the French influence is still widely visible in the architecture, the colonial buildings and the churches.

Promenade Beach is a popular beach that stretches for 1.2 km. Beach Road (also known as Goubert Avenue) runs along the beach. Well known landmarks along Beach Road include the French Soldiers War Memorial, the Mahatma Gandhi Statue, Le Café (a popular eatery) and a Statue of Governor Dupleix. Promenade Beach consists of a sandy beach, but between the sandy stretch and the water, there are large rocks, popular with tourists for sitting on and sea gazing.

Mahatma Gandhi Statue

French Soldiers War Memorial

Statue of Governor Dupleix

Promenade Beach and Beach Road

Promenade Beach

Le Cafe

The Immaculate Conception Cathedral was consecrated in 1791. A church was originally built at the venue by French missionaries in 1692. Multiple churches were built and destroyed in subsequent years, and the present church is the fourth at the venue.

Immaculate Conception Cathedral

Nave, Immaculate Conception Cathedral

High Altar, Immaculate Conception Cathedral

Baptismal Font, Immaculate Conception Cathedral

Statue of Mother Teresa, Immaculate Conception Cathedral

Church of Our Lady of Angeles was built in 1855 by Napoleon III. The church offers mass in French, Tamil and English. The church has a pink coloured exterior, two bell towers and a dome.

Church of Our Lady of Angeles

Side View, Church of Our Lady of Angeles

Nave, Church of Our Lady of Angeles

High Altar with Crucifixion, Church of Our Lady of Angeles

Arulmigu Manakulu Vinayagar Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Ganesha. The temple has a colourful Vimana, depicting figures from Hindu mythology. It has a golden chariot inside. The temple also has an elephant that blesses pilgrims. Very close to the temple, there's the Aurobindo Ashram, where the samadhis of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother are present. Sri Aurobindo was a philosopher and freedom fighter, who was from Kolkata but made Pondicherry his home; the Mother was a French woman who was greatly influenced by Sri Aurobindo. The samadhis are in the form of a large rectangular marble slab, which is covered with beautifully decorated flowers.

Entrance, Arulmigu Manakulu Vinayagar Temple

Vimana, Arulmigu Manakulu Vinayagar Temple

Aayi Mandapam is a white coloured monument in the centre of Bharathi Park. It commemorates the provision of water during the reign of Napoleon III. It is named after Aayi, a courtesan who allowed her house to be demolished to build a reservoir.  

Bharathi Park

Puducherry Museum has a fine collection of Chola bronze statues, coins, weapons, French artefacts, a bust of Governor Dupleix along with his desk and bed (Governor Dupleix, who lived from 1697 to 1763, was the was the Governor General of French India). The museum also has a sculpture garden outside at the entrance, with stone sculptures from Hindu mythology. Despite its impressive works, the museums is in need of refurbishment and its layout needs drastic improvement. Am sure that can be done easily enough with a bit of effort!

Nandi Statue, Puducherry Museum

Pondicherry has a large number of popular eateries. Le Cafe is hard to miss because of its prominent location along Beach Road. Café des Arts, a popular hang out venue and café. It also has a shop selling local products. Villa Shanti is another popular restaurant. Zuka Cake and Dessert Shop is famous for its chocolates and desserts.

Cafe des Arts

Auroville is an experimental township on the outskirts of Pondicherry. A part of it lies in Tamil Nadu, and a part of it in Pondicherry. It was founded in 1968 by the Mother (Mirra Alfassa, who lived from 1878 to 1973), a French woman who was a follower of Shri Aurobindo (1872 - 1950). As per the Mother, “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.” Auroville was intended for 50,000 residents. It currently has around 2,800 residents, out of which 1,000 are Indians, and most of the others are Europeans.

Matrimandir lies in the heart of Auroville. It is a spiritual centre for the practitioners of integral yoga. It was established by The Mother. Work commenced in 1971 and it was completed in 2008. The structure is dome shaped, and is covered by golden coloured discs. The inner chamber has a meditation hall. One can only enter by  prior appointment. The complex has a large garden. One can see the Matrimandir from outside by walking or taking a bus from the Auroville Visitor Centre. The Auroville Visitor Centre has exhibits on Auroville and Matrimandir, cafes and boutique stores. 

Matrimandir

Banyan Tree, Matrimandir Complex

Boutique Store, Auroville Visitor Centre

The International Zone, Auroville Visitor Centre

Image of Matrimandir, Auroville Visitor Centre

Svaram is a centre that has a shop with numerous different musical instruments, including some rare ones. It also has a sound garden where one can play and experience some of these instruments. 

Musical Instrument at the Svaram shop

Musical Instrument at the Svaram Sound Garden

The Bamboo Centre has exhibits of the many different usages of bamboo. It also has a shop that sells bamboo products, including furniture, toys and fabrics.

Fabric made out of bamboo, The Bamboo Centre

Exhibit on bamboo, The Bamboo Cantre

Pondicherry and Auroville have many comfortable places to stay in, including the Promenade Hotel on Beach Road, just off Promenade Beach. But Skandavan was special. Our personal connection with it made it that much more wonderful for us, but even otherwise, it's a great place to enjoy nature, while enjoying modern amenities and infrastructure.

The Pond, Skandavan

With its sizable expat population, Auroville has a large number of popular restaurants and eateries to cater to visitors. We ate at a great Italian restaurant called Tanto. We also did bakery shopping from Auroville Bakery, with its delicious breads, quiches and donuts.

All in all, we really enjoyed our trip. The weather was hot and humid, but that part of the country is notorious for that, plus we were there in summer so that was to be expected. Another thing that was an eye sore was that trash was lying around all over, including in the crevices between the rocks along Promenade Beach. Our travels from and to Chennai were by taxi, and it was a 3 hour long drive along East Coast Road, past landmarks like Dakshin Chitra Museum, MGM Dizzee World, VGP Golden Beach, Taj Fisherman's Cove, Crocodile Bank and Mahabalipuram. In Pondicherry, we rented a taxi on one day, but my cousin and her husband were also kind enough to let me drive their car. I came from the trip quite tanned, but very pleased!