Pondicherry is one of most visited tourist places of South India. This is a union territory of India. The place is also known as Puducherry. This beach town in the earlier times, was a French settlememt area. The city welcomes you with its great treasure of colonial buildings remembering its French connection, churches, temples, statues, & well planned French style streets. There is a community of French people living in the city. Major part of French people living in South India is in Pondicherry. These people are the wealthiest group in Pondicherry deriving much of their income from pension, social security, & welfare programs of the French government. Here in Pondicherry you can see a number of French people living as a community and this is the effort of different organizations aiming in promoting French culture in India. The sea is the main natural resource for the people for fishing which adds to the rural economy of Pondicherry.
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Pondicherry Beach View[/caption]
The tourist attractions here are the four beaches namely Promenade Beach, Paradise Beach, The Auroville Beach and Serinity Beach. You can also visit Sri Aurobindo Ashram situated on rue de la Marine. Auroville or City of Dawn is a township located 8 km North-West of Puducherry, known for the peace and progressive harmony prevalent there. Around Promenade Beach, you can visit Children’s Park & Dupleix Statue, Gandhi statue, Nehru Statue, Le Cafe, French War Memorial, 19th Century Light House, Bharathi Park, Governers Palace, Romain Rolland Library, Legislative Assembly, Puducherry Museum, and the French Institute of Pondicherry at Saint-Louis Street. You can also see here the magnificent statues of Joseph François Dupleix and Joan of Arc, the warrior saint of France, depicting the French influence in Pondicherry.
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Arikamedu - Archaeological SIte[/caption]
Arikamedu is an important site that you should visit in your trip to Pondicherry. This is an archaelogical site here. The excavations conducted here by the Archaeological Survey of India have unearthed many Roman scripts from here which reveals that there was a Roman settlement here.
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Sri Manakula Vinayagar Temple[/caption]
Sri Manakula Vinayagar Temple in Pondicherry is dedicated to one of the 16 forms of Lord Ganesha.
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Villianur Temple[/caption]
Sri Gokilambal Thirukameswarer Temple is another famous temple in Pondicherry. The temple is also known as the Villianur Temple. The Temple is about 10 km the Pondicherry main town. Villianur Temple Car Festival is the main holiest tradition performed here. This is a tradition of pulling of the chariot of the deity Thirukamemswara Kukilambal.
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Matrimandir[/caption]
The Matrimandir is a monument of spiritual importance for professionals of Integral yoga. This main building of Pondicherry is situated at the center of Auroville & is introduced by The Mother of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. This is called the soul of the city & is situated in a large open space called Peace.
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Aayi Mandapam[/caption]
Aayi Mandapam is another famous tourist spot here that you should visit. It was built in the name of a lady courtesan called Aayi (during the period of Napoleon III), who destroyed her own house to erect a water reservoir to supply water for the city.
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Jawahar Toy Museum[/caption]
Jawahar Toy Museum is an educational tourist spot at Goubert Avenue in Pondicherry which tells long-forgotten tales of port civilizations.
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Botanical Garden[/caption]
Botanical Garden in Pondicherry has a diverse collection of plant species from many parts of India as well as from abroad. It also has a large aquarium displaying many sea living organisms including variety of fish flora. This is just a brief description of the tourist attractions in Pondicherry, you can explore many more in your visit.
You can also taste the Indian as well as continental food served in the French restaurants of Pondicherry.
The best time to visit Pondicherry is between October to March. The nearest airport is Chennai International airport. Pondicherry has its own railway station.
There are many holiday rental properties such as resorts, bed & breakfasts, homestays, guesthouses, villas & apartments owned by private owners as well as French settlers in Pondicherry. These provide all the required amenities for the safe & comfortable stay of the tourists visiting Pondicherry.