Museums and monuments
From Arikamedu to the French period: the finds from Arikamedu and the Chola bronzes in the Puducherry Museum, the library founded in 1827, the lighthouse of 1836, and the memorials of French India along the seafront.
Satdeep Gill · CC BY-SA 4.0 MuseumPuducherry Museum
Museum in a French-period building near Bharathi Park, with one of the largest collections of Chola bronzes and finds from the excavations at Arikamedu.
Jayaseerlourdhuraj · CC BY-SA 3.0 HeritageArikamedu Archaeological Site
Ancient port and trading settlement at Kakkayanthope, about 4 km south of the city; finds from its excavations are in the Puducherry Museum.
- Museum
Subramania Bharathi Memorial Museum
House where the Tamil poet and freedom fighter Subramania Bharathi lived after taking refuge from the British in Pondicherry; now a museum of his works.
Shyamal · CC BY-SA 3.0 LibraryRomain Rolland Library
Public library founded in 1827 as the Bibliothèque Publique, one of the oldest in India, renamed in 1966 after the French writer Romain Rolland.
Dr. Ajay B. MD · CC BY-SA 3.0 HeritageOld Lighthouse
The French lighthouse on the Promenade: a 29-metre tower first lit on 1 September 1836, replaced in 1979 by the new lighthouse to the south.
Vinayaraj · CC BY-SA 4.0 AttractionPuducherry Lighthouse
The working lighthouse on the coast south of the old town, in service since 1979; it replaced the French lighthouse of 1836 on the Promenade.
Richard Mortel · CC BY 2.0 MonumentFrench War Memorial
Memorial on Goubert Avenue to the people of French India who died in the First World War, inaugurated in 1938 and lit up every year on 14 July.
- Monument
Mahatma Gandhi Statue
Statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the Promenade, ringed by eight carved pillars brought from Gingee Fort.
- Monument
Nehru Statue
Statue of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, on the French heritage walk by the seafront.
- Monument
Dupleix Statue
Statue of Joseph François Dupleix, Governor-General of French India, first installed in 1870 and since 1979 at the southern end of the Promenade on Goubert Avenue.
- Monument
Joan of Arc Statue
Statue of Joan of Arc in a small garden of the French Quarter, where local players gather for pétanque.
- Heritage
Hôtel de Ville (Old Town Hall)
The town hall of French Pondicherry on the seafront, now the Puducherry Municipal Office.
- Heritage
Golconde
Residence of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, completed in 1942 to designs by Antonin Raymond and George Nakashima and described as the first modernist building in India.
- Museum
Puducherry Science Centre and Planetarium
Public science centre and planetarium at Lawspet, set up by the National Council of Science Museums.
