Tourism in Pondicherry, the most attractive places

Article authored by Sankaranand

Pondicherry, the peaceful city was once known as "La Côte d'Azur de l'Est" meaning "The French Riviera of the East". There are many tourist attractions in and around Pondicherry which makes it one of the popular tourist destinations especially for foreigners. Well known for its heritage which retains much evidence of its history of French Colonies as well as Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Auroville, Beaches, Temples, Churches, Heritage Buildings, Museums, Backwater and Star Hotels.

Sri Aurobindo Ashram



Sri Aurobindo Ashram is the oneness of Sri Aurobindo. The Ashram aims at providing a complete method of Yoga that would transform human nature to divine life. It also administrates many public benefits like providing free medical facilities and its most popular School for Perfect Eyesight, a health center promoting Bates method to improve and restore vision without the use of glasses. It is located on “rue de la Marine”.

Auroville



Auroville a small township is a city of dawn established just 10 kms from Pondicherry, and universal town where people of world countries live in peace and harmony. The major tagline of Auroville is realizing "human unity". So they believe in oneness and live without any differences on the basis of culture and creed. It was a project of Sri Aurobindo Society by Mirra Alfassa lovingly called as The Mother by her disciples.

Beaches



Some of the beaches to be visited in this city are the Paradise and Serenity Beach. The Serenity is located just blocks from the central town with monuments of Gandhi and Nehru. Stretched along 1.5 km across Bay of Bengal, you can experience evening relaxation and deep meditation feeling the cool sea breeze. Major hotels like Promenade and Le Dupleix are located in this area, where you can have a soothing spa experience as well as sipping the French wine along the cost. These major hotels are chain of Worlds Luxury Brand Hidesign. The Paradise Beach is located on the Cuddalore -Pondy Highway over the backwaters of Chunnambar. One can access the beauty beach by hiring a speed or motor boat at the boat house.

Temples


Spiritually Pondicherry is surrounded by a large number of heritage as well as modern temples. The Manakula Vinayagar Temple of Lord Ganesha is a three century old temple with Gold embossed dome and Pondicherry's Sweet pet Elephant Lakshmi. The elephant is well known for its silver anklets and drinking a 2 liters bottle full of Pepsi. The Varadaraja Perumal temple dated back to 600 AD, Vedhapureeswara Temple, Kamathi Amman Temple and Kanniga Parameswari Temple are other temples located over the town area.

Churches, Heritage Building and Museums


The Sacred Heart of Jesus Church is dated back to around 17 – 18 century. Every morning and evening rituals will take place and more no of devotees come here for worship. Other heritage places include the 19th century light house, French War Memorial, Dupleix Statue, Several French restoration buildings, Vysial Street (UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Award) for cultural heritage restoration. Some of the heritage buildings are turned out to heritage hotels and cottages.

The Pondicherry museum is located at Saint Louis Street. It has collections from the Pandavas and Cholas. There you can find as well as artifacts collected from Arikamedu: some of the Pre-Christian relics, remnants of Greek and Roman jars. You will also discover several pieces of the furniture that fitted Governor General Dupleix’s residence. It also has geology collections like shells and fossils. A must see.

Hotels

Pondicherry is abundant with resorts and hotels of all class. Some class hotels include The Promenade, Le Dupleix, Anandha Inn, GRT Grand Sunway and Atithi. Over the last few years several establishments of resorts steal the tourism such as Mahindra Beach Resorts' Zest Beach, Pondicherry Ashok Hotel and Bonheur's Ocean Spray (5 star grade hotel), Mango Hill…