Promenade

An ideal place for a stroll, the Promenade is a 1.5Km long walk built along the beach. On the beachfront, there are statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Jeanne d'Arc and Dupleix, a war memorial, the Heritage building and an old lighthouse that is 27 metres tall.

Raj Niwas

This palatial building is completely French in style and was the residence of Joseph Francois Dupleix. It is now the residence of the Lieutenant-Governor of Pondicherry.

Shri Aurobindo Ashram

Shri Aurobindo, a famous poet established the Ashram in 1920. The Samadhi in the Ashram premises is the final resting place of Sri Aurobindo and the mother. The Ashram has become a centre for the practice of Yoga and a place of learning. The ashram activities include agriculture, industries, art and culture.

Thiruvakkarai

Thiruvakkarai or Tiruvakkarai is at a distance of 30 kms from the Pondicherry town. The first Wood-Fossil Park of the country is situated here. The Chandramouliswara Temple is another tourist destination in this place.

Pondicherry Beach

Pondicherry has a beautiful unpolluted beach that is 1.5km long.The other places of tourist interest in Pondicherry are: -
French Institute
Jawahar Toy Museum
Manakula Vinayanagar
Mansion Anandha
Mailam Murugan Temple
Mandagupettu
Ousteri Lake

For more information :-

Tourist Information Bureau,

Goubert Avenue, (Beach Road),

Pondicherry,

India

Ph: +91-413-34575

Inspite of its diminutive size, attracts a large percentage of tourists visiting India. The unique spiritual charm of the place in enhanced by the fact that it was a home to the great poet Sri Aurobindo and the Mother (whose real name was Mirra Alfassa and she was born in Paris. An accomplished pianist and a painter, she became a follower of Shri Aurobindo and later came to be known as the Mother). The Auroville, with its multinational, multilingual and multicultural population is the realized dream of both these visionaries, to build a universal society living in complete harmony. Pondicherry is at present, a union territory with its area scattered over three different states in the country. The capital of the union territory of Pondicherry is also known as 'Pondicherry' and is situated on the Coromandel Coast on the Bay of Bengal, at a distance of 162 Kms from Chennai. Karaikal is another part of Pondicherry, which is also situated in the state of Tamil Nadu. The other two parts are Yanam in Andhra Pradesh and Mahe located on the southern side of river Mahe in the westcoast of kerala. Once a French colony, Pondicherry still has a few French families living there and French is an important language. The French spirit can be discerned in the very layout of the township. The magnificent statues of Joseph Francois Dupleix and Joan of Arc, the warrior saint of France tell of a significant French influence on the history of the place. The French Institute of Indology and Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient are the living legacies of the former French occupation of the territory.

Languages

Languages spoken in Pondicherry are Tamil, Telugu, Malayam, Hindi, French and English.

Climate

The state enjoys a tropical climate, it is usually hot and humid and the monsoon lasts from October to December.


Religion
Hindu, Christian, Buddhism, Jainism and Islam.
Capital
Pondicherry