A Mini Tour of Puducherry- India’s little France…

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In June 2023, my parents and I set out on a two day trip to Puducherry, a Union Territory in South India, often cited as India’s little France. The purpose of the trip was to attend the wedding of a family friend’s daughter.

With much enthusiasm, we started off from my grandparents’ home in Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu on the 6th of June. My happiness knew no bounds for two reasons- one, because we were going on a road trip for the wedding and two, because I got a great escape from the bitter gourd cooked along with lunch that day, thanks to my granny. Thanks Aachi!😁

Pondicherry also known as Puducherry, is at a distance of 150 km from Chennai and took around 2.5 hours to reach. My dad and I spent the first 30 minutes of our journey spotting the numerous biriyani shops on ECR (East Coast road), much to the disapproval of my mother who was trying to concentrate on drafting her next article😆.

Puducherry has a touch of France in its many lanes, cafés, restaurants, architecture etc. Due to this influence, this Union Territory is many times referred to as India’s Little France.

We checked into ‘The Sunway Manor’ in Puducherry at around 6:30pm, half an hour after crossing the Tamil Nadu-Puducherry border and headed to the kalyana mandapam (wedding hall) for the wedding reception. The next morning before getting ready for the marriage, we decided to make the best out of the time we had in our hands by visiting a few prominent tourist spots in India’s little France.

Arulmigu Manakula Vinayagar Kovil

A special shoutout to my dad’s friend Sundar Uncle who accompanied and drove us around Pondicherry the following morning. We set out from our hotel at 5:15am and started our day by paying a visit to the Arulmigu Manakula Vinayagar Kovil (kovil is the Tamil word for temple). As we reached the temple’s entrance around half an hour prior to its opening, we had to wait for around 25 minutes before entering the temple. I somehow missed clicking photos in the temple!

This temple is dedicated to the Hindu God Pillayar/ Vinayagar (also referred to as Lord Ganesha), as specified in the name of this holy shrine.

Next to the temple’s grand entrance, a separate area is still maintained in memory of Lakshmi, the temple’s elephant, who unfortunately died in November 2022. Having blessed thousands of devotees visiting the temple for more than two decades, Lakshmi’s death was grieved as a personal loss by residents of Puducherry and frequently visiting devotees. According to an article in The Indian Express, Lakshmi, who had arrived at the Arulmigu Manakula Vinayagar Kovil at the age of 6 and was 32 years old in 2022, died of a ‘suspected heart attack’ after collapsing during her regular morning walk.

2. Promenade Beach/Rock Beach

Up next, we headed to Promenade Beach also known as Rock Beach, located in the White Town and took a walk along the long stretch of the beach. While writing this post I came to know that White Town is also called the French Quarters. Seeing many fitness enthusiasts up and about in the morning for an energizing walk fondly reminded me of my long early morning walks along with stimulating conversations with my dad back at Corniche Beach in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

While taking a stroll in the beach’s long waterfront, we passed by some of Puducherry’s famous tourist spots as mentioned below…

3. Gandhi Statue, Promenade Beach

Erected at a certain distance from the clear waters, this statue was raised in honour of the Father of the Nation, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, commonly referred to as Mahatma Gandhi.

I spent around ten minutes trying to click the below pic in the right angle with less crowd😆…

The statue is surrounded by four pillars each on both sides with designs carved on them…

4. French War Memorial, Promenade Beach

The War Memorial, situated opposite the beach was closed as we visited the beach early in the morning but I did click a photo of it! Built to honour the supreme sacrifice of the soldiers who laid down their lives during the First World War, this place was opened to the public in the year 1938, after its construction was completed in 1937.

5. Old Light House, Promenade Beach

Constructed in the 19th century for guiding seafarers, the Old Light House is positioned opposite the Gandhi Statue and started functioning in the year 1836. This place is called the GST (Goods and Services Tax) Bhavan nowadays.

The height of the lighthouse is 29 meters. It has a round tower and a square base. The cost of construction was 10,000 francs. The foundation has a depth of nine meters. Its light beam could be seen from a distance of 15 miles. The light source consisted of six oil lamps and two reflectors. The light source was converted to electric lamps in 1913. The power of the lamp was increased in 1931. The new lamp had a range of 26 nautical miles. It took 36 seconds for one full rotation of the beam.
Courtesy- https://www.visitpondicherry.co.in/pondicherry-old-lighthouse-tourism.php?page=31

***Old Light House is positioned opposite the Gandhi Statue…***

We were able to spot the Old Light House even at a certain distance away from it…

6. The Promenade Hotel, Promenade Beach

I was told by my parents that we had come on a visit to Puducherry back in 2008, when I was a one year old and had stayed in this hotel…

7. Thiyaga Perunjuvar (Great Wall of Sacrifice), Promenade Beach

Thiyaga Perunjuvar (in Tamil), which translates as “Great Wall of Sacrifice” in English, contains wooden plaques with names of the freedom fighters in honour of their contribution towards India’s struggle for Independence. The Tribute Wall was commemorated last year (2023), as part of the #AzadiKaAmritMahotsav initiative of the Government of India to mark 75 years of the country’s Independence.

As mentioned in the pic below, Puducherry was the first out of 75 places in the country were tribute walls were planned to be installed…

A statue of India’s first prime minister after independence, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was built at a small distance behind the Tribute Wall. He remained the Prime Minister of India for almost 17 whole years between 1947 and 1964.

8. Le Café, Promenade Beach

Lastly, we dropped by at Le Café for a morning cup of coffee and hot chocolate (yep, for yours truly😉). Are you like me who needs something to munch on while sipping a drink? Do you always opt for the coffee and croissant combo or the coffee and donut combo? In my case, I blindly choose a cinnamon roll to devour along with my cup of iced chocolate or hot chocolate😆. But to my dismay, when I enquired with the staff at Le Café, I was told that their bakery items weren’t out yet as it was still early on in the morning. Nonetheless, I went back to business (yes, clicking pics of the surrounding😁).

Le Café is a pleasant open-air café and we enjoyed our warm drinks by the sea together with the mild early morning sea breeze.