A tourist's paradise

Our Union Territory is a place that is blessed with a bit of everything. From a piece of ‘God’s own country’ to an enclave set in warm Tamil heartland to a land where ‘cheerameenu’ and ‘pulasa’ are famous to a town that still has a generous whiff of its glorious French past Puducherry has everything. If there is something missing, then it’s a mountain top from which one could have looked at the grid patterned streets - a common feature of the Puducherry and Karaikal enclaves.

This bustling mineapolis of more than 11 lakh people has a distinct habit of welcoming all, and the proof of the this is in the increasing number of tourists every year.

According to recent statistics, a total of 80,000 foreign tourists and 7.5 lakh domestic tourists have stayed at least a night here.

Located 135 km from Chennai, Puducherry, capital of the Union Territory, which was under French rule from 1670 to 1954, was originally just a village of weavers and fisherman.

Heritage town

When you look at the map of Puducherry you find that there are tens of tiny streets cutting each other, resembling a grid. When the Dutch occupied Puducherry in 1694 one of their engineers drew a master plan and the French built the town based on it. The oval town is divided into Tamil and French parts, where you can find typical 18th century French mansions and Tamil houses with ‘thinnai’ and ‘thalwaram’. The Government, along with conversation agency INTACH, has been taking steps to preserve these buildings.

Place to visit

There is a lot to see both inside and outside the town. Inside the boulevard you can visit Sri Aurobindo Ashram, beach road – Goubert Avenue with statues of Mahatma Gandhi and French Governor Dupleix, Goubert Bazaar – an old market whose look has been retained, a beautifully renovated Bharathi Park, Subramania Bharathi and Bharathidasan Memorial Museums and the Government Museum.

The naming streets is unique. There are both French and Indian names. You can see names like Rue Francois Martin and Rue Suffren, as well as Jawaharlal Nehru street, Mahatma Gandhi Road and Lal Bahadur Shastri Road on blue ceramic boards. The Indian names reflect our nationalist sentiments.

Places including the Botanical Garden, aquarium, Chunnambar backwaters and beach resort, Ousteri lake, which is a place for bird watching and boating, and Ruby beach in Veerampattinam are spots that you can see outside the boulevard.

The quaint old Indian Coffee House on Jawaharlal Nehru Street, which still has a ‘family room’, and the 180-year-old Botanical Garden on Maraimalai Adigal Salai are two places that are mentioned in Yaan Martel’s novel ‘Life of Pi’.

If you can spare an entire day, then the Chunnambar beach resort on Cuddaloare road, which has a floating restaurant, pedal, rowing and speed boats and play things for children, is a nice place to spend your time. You can take a boat ride on the backwaters and have a look at the beautiful beach.

The international town ship of Auroville, having at its centre the golden coloured Matrimandir globe, in the nearby Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu is worth a visit.

Temples, churches and mosques

Sri Aurobindo Ashram, near Sri Manakula Vinayakar Temple is where one can sit in contemplation near the samadhis of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo.

One speciality of Puducherry is that there are no religious restrictions made on people visiting temples and churches. Of course, that one has to respect all faiths and people belonging to them goes unsaid.

Secred Heart Church located on South Boulevard opposite the railway station, is a white and brown church that captures everyone’s attention. The Church of Our Lady of the Angels on Rue Romain Rolland, facing the sea, was built in 1852 in the Greek Roman architectural style.

The Kuthbha Mosque is Puducherry’s first mosque. It has the Durgah of Moula Saibu Kuthba. The Milla Mohammed Mosque has a small pond with fishes and a place to cook food for Ramzan.

Shopping

Apart from sightseeing, Puducherry has a lot to offer in terms of shopping. The terracotta hub, Villianur, is a place where around 500 families of terracotta artisans mix three types of clay to make dolls, jewellery, horses and ‘urlis’ for interior decoration. Terracotta products are sold at the Pudumai showroom on Goubert Avenue.

You can also shop for agabathis made using natural ingredients, uniquely handcrafted leather products, scented and floating candles, tie and dye materials, handmade paper and long lasting cloth and bedspreads from Anglo French Textiles.

Source : THE HINDU

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