Call: +91 90196 01010
Call: +91 90196 01010
Puducherry formerly Pondicherry is a Union Territory of India. It is a former French colony, consisting of four non-contiguous enclaves, or districts, and named for the largest, Pondicherry.
In September 2006, the territory changed its official name from Pondicherry to the vernacular original, Puducherry, which means "New village" in the Tamil language. It is also known as The French Riviera of the East (La Côte d'Azur de l'Est).
A remarkable degree of French influence in Puducherry exists to this date. Puducherry was designed based on the French (however originally Dutch) grid pattern and features neat sectors and perpendicular streets. The entire town is divided into 2 sections, the French Quarter and the Indian quarter. Many streets still retain their French names, and French style villas are a common sight in Puducherry. In the French quarter, the buildings are typically colonial style with long compounds and stately walls. The Indian quarter consists of houses lined with verandas and houses with large doors and grills. The use of French language can be still seen in Puducherry.
Puducherry was the residence of Sri Aurobindo. The Sri Aurobindo Ashram and its offshoot, Auroville still operate from Puducherry.
Places to visit
Since it is situated very close to the sea, the climate is warm and humid.
Pondicherry experiences hot and humid climate for the maximum part of the year, with temperatures varying between 26° C and 38° C.
The summer season is mostly dry with a clear and blue sky. The summer season extends from March till July, and the temperature varies between 24.50° C to 38° C. For tourists the ideal time to visit Pondicherry is between the months of March and October.
The winter season in Pondicherry starts in the month of November and is effected by the northeast monsoon. The monsoon showers cool the days and nights. The monsoon showers on the west coast of the land makes the weather pleasant in the months of July-August. The winters are cool compared to the summers but the temperature never falls below 20 degrees.
The monsoon season in Pondicherry is very small compared to other parts f India. The region receives good rainfall during the months from November to January and from July to September. The percentage of humidity is very high in Pondicherry, which is very common in coastal areas. The high level of humidity makes the summer season uncomfortable.
1. BY AIR: The closest airport is in Chennai, which is around 135 kms from puducherry (approx. 2 ½ hrs. journey). Chennai has excellent connections with almost all cities in India and direction connection to Europe, USA, Middle East and South East Asia. Trichy airport is 220 kms away. Bangalore (320 kms) and Madurai are the other nearby airports.
2. BY TRAIN: Though puducherry is on the rail map journey by train to and from puducherry is not very popular. Villupuram is the nearest junction, it is fairly well connected to places like Chennai, Madurai and Trichy.
3. BY ROAD: Puducherry is well connected to all districts and major towns of various states like Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Andra Pradesh. Puducherry is best accessible by road, either by bus or by taxi. There are frequent buses, almost every 15 minutes in the day from Chennai’s new bus stand in Koyembedu.
The express buses takes 3 ½ hours to reach puducherry. Preferably take the buses coming by the East Coast Road via Mahabalipuram, instead of the National Highway, as the ECR is far more scenic with shimmering sea to give you company most of the way.
There are frequent buses to puducherry from places like Chidambaram, Thanjavur Trichy and Coimbatore. Especially private luxury buses are connecting puducherry with other major cities in Tamil Nadu and Bangalore.