Architecture and History

 

 

• Puducherry once a French colony in India, Pondicherry has a strong influence of European architectural character,

 

• Puducherry is a tourist's delight. It provides out of the world experience to the visitor due to its European street character and its French Architecture.

 

• Buildings here are very well preserved and many are now converted into heritage hotels to accomodate keen tourists.

 

• Most of the French institutional buildings now under the care of Sri Aurobindo Ashram and are well preserved in its character and building condition.

 

 

History

 

• Puducherry came through hundreds of years under the Pallavas, Cholas, Pandyas, and Muslim rulers, Sultans, Portuguese, British, French and Dutch. When the British used up the whole of India, the French colonized the whole of Puducherry.

 

• The "Bahur Plates", issued in the 8th century speak of a Sanskrit University which was here from an earlier period. Legend has it that the sage Agastya established his Ashram here and the place was known as Agastiswaram.

 

• In the beginning of the fourth century A. D. Puducherry area was ruled by the Pallava Kingdom of Kanchipuram.

 

• In the 13^th century the Cholas of Tanjavur took over, only to be replaced by the Pandya Kingdom. After a brief invasion by the Muslim rulers of the North, who established the Sultanate of Madurai, the Vijayanagar Empire took control of almost all the South of India and lasted till 1638, when the Sultan of Bijapur began to rule over Gingee.

 

• The trade from Poducherry included dyed textiles, pottery and semi-precious stones. Ancient Roman scripts mention one of the trade centres along the Indian coast as Poduca or Poduke, which refers, to the present Puducherry.

 

• The Portuguese,  the Dutch, The Danes, The English And the French colonizers have influenced and socio-economic and cultural bed of Poducherry.

 

• By 18th century this tiny fishing village had turned into a grand port city. On November 1, 1954, the French possessions in India were de facto transferred to the Indian Union and Puducherry became a Union Territory.

 

• 280 years of French rule had come to an end. But only in 1963 Puducherry became officially an integral part of India after the French Parliament in Paris ratified the Treaty with India.

 

• In the year 1963, the Parliament enacted the Government of Union Territories Act which provides for Legislative Assemblies and Council of Ministers in the Union Territories. The President of India has framed the Business of the Government of Puducherry (Allocation) Rules, 1963 etc.

 

• The Centre is represented by the Lt. Governor, who resides at the Raj Nivas at the Park, the former palace of the French Governor.

 

• Puducherry still has a large number of Tamil residents with French passports, whose ancestors were in French Governmental service and who chose to remain French at the time of Independence.

 

 

 

Demographic Location

 

 

 

• Puducherry, was formed in 1962 out of the four former colonies of French India:

 

• Puducherry is located on the India’s southeastern Coromandel Coast, surrounded by Tamil Nadu state;

 

• Yanam, farther north along the eastern coast in the delta region of the Godavari River, surrounded by Andhra Pradesh state; and Mahe, lying on the western Malabar Coast, surrounded by Kerala state.

 

• The territory’s capital is the city of Puducherry in the Puducherry sector, just north of Cuddalore.

 

 

 

People, Rituals and Language

 

 

• The major languages spoken in the areas are Tamil, Malayalam, and Telugu.

 

• Tamil is predominant in the southern settlements of Puducherry and Karaikal;

 

• Malayalam is predominant in Mahe; and Telugu is spoken mainly in Yanam.

 

• Other significant languages in the territory include Urdu, French, Kannada, Hindi, Gujarati, English, and Marathi.

 

• Tamil - Widely spoken across Karaikal and Pondicherry and 89% of the total population of the union territory can read, write and speak in Tamil.

 

• Malayalam- Spoken across Mahe and Pondicherry and 4.8% of the total population of the union territory can read, write and speak in Malayalam.

 

• Telugu - Spoken across Yanam, Pondicherry and Karaikal and 2.9% of the total population of the union territory can read, write and speak in Telugu

 

 

Season and Climate

 

 

• The Puducherry experiences semi-arid type of climate, with an average maximum temperature about 34º C in all four regions and the mean minimum temperature is around a 24º C.

 

• However, during peak Summer periods of May to June, the maximum temperature goes 38º - 40º C in Puducherry/Karaikal and 45º - 47º C in Yanam.

 

• All the four regions experiences a high humidity throughout the year.

 

• During Day time, humidity is in the range of 80- 85 %, coming down to 75-80% in the evenings.

 

• December to February are the coolest months in the four regions. While Puducherry and Karaikal regions receive rain mostly through North East Monsoon, Mahe and Yanam regions benefit from the South West Monsoon.

 

• In the Puducherry region, normal rainfall occur once in three years, slight deficit/excess rainfall occur once in five years and the large excess/large deficit rainfall occur once in hundred years.

 

• The winter and summer months are mild.

 

• During Southwest monsoon period, wind blows predominantly from West-South-West direction, some times from Southwest and West directions. During the Northeast monsoon season, wind blow predominantly from north and sometime from North-North-West and North-North-East directions.

 

• During Winter, the average cloud density is 59% in the mornings and 55% in the evenings. During the hot weather period, the average cloud density increases from 50% to 74% in the morning and 36% to 75% in the evenings.

 

• During Southwest monsoon period, the average is 84% in the mornings and 89% in the evenings. During Northeast monsoon period, the average is 77% in the mornings and 82% in the evenings.

 

• Puducherry and the adjoining areas are affected by Cyclone/Severe Cyclones, which originate from the Bay of Bengal and move in a Westerly north Western direction.

 

• During Southwest monsoon period was 694 mm, and in the Northeast monsoon period was 301 mm. The annual evaporation is of order 1600 mm.

 

 

 

Culture and Education

 

 

• Hindus form the majority in all four regions.

 

• Muslims are an important minority in Karaikal, Mahe, and Yanam; and Christians are numerous in Puducherry. There are also a few Sikhs, Buddhists, and Jains.

 

• The influence of French culture is clear on the architecture, cuisine and lifestyle of the people of Puducherry.

 

• Leather, woodcraft, pottery, metalcraft are some of the popular handicrafts in which the people of Puducherry are engaged.

 

• Some of the important fairs and festivals Puducherry include
• Fire walking festivals
• Fete De puducherry
• International Yoga Festival
• Bastille Day
• Sedal, Mangan
• Festival at Karaikal Ammaiyar Temple
• Mascarade Festival
• Thiraiyattam Festival at Bhagavathi Temple
• The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes
• Puducherry De Jure Transfer Day
• Veerampattinam Car Festival
• Theresa Festival
• Sri Aurobindo’s Birth Anniversary
• Masi Magam
• Chitrai Kalai Vizha
• Villianur Temple Car Festival
• Deepavali
• Pongal
• Christmas
• New Year's Day
• Karthigai
• Bakrid and Ramzan

 

• Puducherry too houses a majority of Dravidians.

 

• Some of the important arts and crafts products of Puducherry include attractively crafted dollies and playthings made from hard unglazed brownish-red earthenware, papier-mache (substance made from paper pulp), plaster, bronze castings, kamatchi villakku, hand woven carpets, hand printed textiles, handmade paper, cane furniture, aromatic products.

 

• The union territory of Puducherry houses a lot of dance and music academies, arts and crafts outlets that primarily trade wooden toys, traditional musical instruments, pottery products, art prints and posters, crocheted toys, and many other products.

 

• The dress of Puducherry is much similar to Tamil Nadu’s dress or a mixture of Tamil and French cultural attires. Because of the amalgamated French and Tamil culture, both traditional and western attires are worn in Puducherry.

 

• Women of Puducherry wear saris with a blouse and long skirt,

 

• Fairs and Festivals of Puducherry reflect the cultural heritage of the place.

 

• Some of the festivals are very unique and interesting, celebrated only within Puducherry. Some common festivals are :

 

• The Pongal Festival
• Masi Magam Festival
• Tamil New Year
• Chitrai Kalai Vizha
• Villianur Temple Car Festival
• Veerampattinam Car Festival
• Bastille Day
• Birth Anniversary of Sri Aurobindo
• Fete De Puducherry
• French Food Festival
• Vinayaka Chathurthi.

 

• Music & dance in Puducherry forms a very important part of the cultural life of the people here. Various dance festivals are celebrated by the people of this union territory of India.

 

• The music and dance forms of Puducherry are immensely influenced by the rich heritage of the Tamil tradition.

 

 

 

 

 

Famous Spots

 

 

Puducherry has been the abode of Sri Aurobindo since (1872–1950) and Sri Aurobindo Ashram also remains in Puducherry. There are many ancient forts, churches, temples, monuments, and parks in the UT.

 

Aurobindo Ashram

 

Sri Aurobindo founded the Aurobindo Ashram in 1926 to increase the spiritual power away from the life of this race. People from all over the world come here in search of spirituality.

 

Aruveli

 

Meera Alfassa (also known as Mother) created the Spiritual Coulérate for Sri Aurobindo in 1968. His only goal was that people from all over the world could come here and find peace. There are many types of workshops here, as well as different types of therapies given here which lead people toward peace.

 

Seashore

 

The main features of Pondicherry are its beaches. There are mainly four ‘Beaches’ – Prominent Beach, Paradis Beach, Auroville Beach, Sariniti Beach. It is less crowded than other beaches in India. And there are quite clean in between.

 

Church

 

Lady Angel’s Church, Screed Hot Church, Duplex Church, and Basilica of Scared Hot of Jesus are counted among older churches. Their structural beauty is fascinating.

 

Old Light House

 

The old lighthouse built in 1836 is the most popular landmark of Pondicherry. When it was built, it was unique at the time. This lighthouse is the center of attraction today.

 

French War Memorial

 

Four pillars stand in commemoration of soldiers martyred in World War 1. A short distance from it is the Statue of Duplex, which was built in memory of Joseph Francois.

 

Gandhi Statue

 

Mahatma Gandhi’s Statue stands in front of the beach  surrounded by carved monolithic pillars built by the famous sculptor Roy Choudhary from Madras School of Art and Crafts.

 

Pondicherry Museum

 

In ancient times Pondicherry has been under the rulers of France, Britain, Dutch, etc. Some rare documents and historical objects of the same era are present in this museum.

 

Austeri

 

It is also known as Osduyu Lake, it is a few kilometers from Pondicherry. Rowing a boat here is delight and spending  time with the birds in this lake. This lake is a paradise for bird lovers who want to see migratory birds.

 

Erika Medu

 

The barren walls of Erika Medu provide evidence that the link between Rome and Tamil Nadu was once Pondicherry. The ruins of Erika Medu are about two hundred years old.

 

 

 

Aqua, Flora and Fauna

 

 

• The Puducherry has  small animals like squirrels, mangoose, varanus, civet cat, jackal and many snakes. Squirrel is exploited the most for its body hair, fur for trophies, meat and other purposes.

 

• The scenic Pondicherry university campus harbours four native vegetation  of tropical dry evergreen forest, tropical dry evergreen scrub, scrub savanna and thorn forest.

 

• The cash crops include cotton, sugarcane, oilseeds, coconut, gingelly and chillies. The important horticultural products are bananas and mangoes. The state is the largest producer of bananas, flowers, tapioca, coconut, groundnut and sugarcane. The plantation wealth of the UT lies in Mahe region mainly.

 

• Puducherry is the largest producer of bananas, flowers, tapioca, coconut, groundnut and sugarcane.

 

• Some of the important sacred groves are at:

 

• Mangalam,
• Poornankuppam,
• Thirukkanur,
• Madagadipet,
• Lawspet,
• Mettupalayam,
• Abhisekapakkam,
• Keezhur,
• Karasur
• Chembara and Pandakkal (in Mahe Region).

 

• A Banyan tree is more than 100 years old and during the beginning of the construction of the Matrimandir was the only tree on the barren plateau.

 

• Asian koel is a beautiful bird and classified as Least Concern.

 

• Marine life of Pondicherry is very diversified in nature. From small marine organisms like nudibranchs to the largest fish in the world which are the whale sharks. Found around the home reef, which is Temple Reef.

 

• The lion fish is one of the most common sightings at Temple Reef.

 

• Various jellyfish are spotted at Temple Reef. Extremely that are graceful to look at, The jellyfish, make for some great photography subjects because of their beautiful colours and the textures of their bodies.

 

• Tinier than your little finger, spotting nudibranchs  There are over 3000 types of nudibranchs all over the world. And in Pondicherry, here are some of our favourite nudibranchs you can spot at Temple Reef!

 

• Mantas and turtles are definitely a part of the marine life of Pondicherry. They are often spotted in deeper dive sites.