India Guide
Tamil Nadu
Puducherry (Pondicherry)
First impressions of PUDUCHERRY (Pondicherry, also often referred to simply as Pondy), the former capital of French India, can be unpromising. Instead of the leafy boulevards and pétanque pitches you might expect, its messy outer suburbs and bus stand are as cluttered and chaotic as any typical Tamil town. Closer to the seafront, however, the atmosphere grows tangibly more Gallic, as the bazaars give way to rows of houses with shuttered windows and colourwashed facades. Many of the seafront buildings were damaged by the 2004 tsunami and lives were lost, but Puducherry's tourist infrastructure remained intact.
Although relinquished by the French in 1954 – when the town became the headquarters of the Union Territory of Pondicherry, administering the three other former colonial enclaves scattered across south India – Puducherry's split personality still prevails. West of the canal stretches a bustling Indian market town, while to the east, towards the sea, the streets are emptier, cleaner and decidedly European. The seaside promenade, Goubert Salai (formerly Beach Road), has the forlorn look of an out-of-season French resort, complete with its own white Hôtel de Ville. Tanned sun-worshippers share space with grave Europeans in white Indian costume, busy about their spiritual quest. It was here that Sri Aurobindo Ghose (1872–1950), a leading figure in the freedom struggle in Bengal, was given shelter after it became unwise to live close to the British in Calcutta. His ashram attracts thousands of devotees from all around the world, most particularly from Bengal.
Ten kilometres north, the Utopian experiment-in-living Auroville was inspired by Aurobindo's disciple, the charismatic Mirra Alfassa, a Parisian painter, musician and mystic better known as "The Mother". Today this slightly surreal place is populated by numbers of expats and visited by long-stay Europeans eager to find inner peace.