This
laid back town which is
a reminiscent of the French
colonization is well connected
form the city of Chennai.
The
closest airport is in
Chennai from where once
could travel by rail or
road. It is roughly 160
km from Chennai by road
and there are bus services
as well as excellent taxi
services form there.
Pondicherry
or Puducherry as it is
now called is famous for
Sri Aurobindo Ashram and
its off shoot Auroville.
Reminiscent of the French
can be witnessed in the
peculiarly planned town
which is extremely neat
and calm. There are a
lot of places for the
tourists to visit like
the many French institutions
meant for preserving the
French traditions. The
Romain Rolland Library,
which is home to thousands
of rare French texts,
is an invaluable public
library. The museum which
displays several priceless
works of art sculptures,
statues, handicrafts and
a cot used in the 18th
century. The long stretches
of beach are perhaps the
best getaways that anyone
could long for.
The
houses of the famous Tamil
poets Subramania Barathi
and Bharati Dasan have
been maintained as memorials
for tourists. Ananda Rangapillai's
elegant palatial house
also can be seen which
is a great piece of architecture
that is a blend of French
and eastern style of architecture.
Ananda Rangapillai was
the famous diarist of
Duplex’s time. Apart
from these the botanical
gardens, the Rajbhavan,
the temples and churches
are great tourist attractions.
Several
fairs and festivals are
organized here. Temple
festivals like fire walking
festival and the Sedal
festival takes place here.
The mask Festival which
is very French in nature
is conducted here annually
where revelers go around
the street in celebration.
The yoga festival and
other temple festivals
are also conducted frequently.
