Pondicherry in one day
Old Pondicherry is small enough to see on foot in a day. The canal that once separated the French Quarter by the sea from the Tamil Quarter inland still shapes the town; this route crosses both, starting on the seafront early, while it is cool, and ending there in the evening.
17 stops · about 5 km between the stops in a straight line
Morning: the seafront
The Promenade faces east, so the morning light is on the sea. Walk the seafront past the Gandhi statue, the French War Memorial, the Old Lighthouse of 1836 and the Hôtel de Ville.
Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0 BeachPromenade Beach (Rock Beach)
Pondicherry’s rocky seafront on the Bay of Bengal: a 1.2 km promenade along Goubert Avenue, from the French War Memorial to Dupleix Park.
- Monument
Mahatma Gandhi Statue
Statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the Promenade, ringed by eight carved pillars brought from Gingee Fort.
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.
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.
- Heritage
Hôtel de Ville (Old Town Hall)
The town hall of French Pondicherry on the seafront, now the Puducherry Municipal Office.
Late morning: the French Quarter
Turn inland to Our Lady of Angels, then Bharathi Park with Aayi Mandapam, the Puducherry Museum and the Romain Rolland Library, which stand around the square where the French town was rebuilt after 1765. Finish at the Manakula Vinayagar temple and the Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
Aravindaraja · CC BY-SA 3.0 ChurchOur Lady of Angels Church
Église Notre-Dame-des-Anges on Dumas Street, built in 1855 in Greco-Roman style and facing the sea; mass is said here in French, Tamil and English.
iMahesh · CC BY-SA 4.0 ParkBharathi Park
Shaded park at the centre of the French Quarter, beside Lok Niwas (Raj Nivas), with the white Aayi Mandapam monument in the middle.
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.
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.
Deepak-nsk · CC0 TempleSri Manakula Vinayagar Temple
Ganesha temple in the old town, older than the French settlement and one of the best-known places of worship in Pondicherry.
Pinakpani · CC BY-SA 4.0 AttractionSri Aurobindo Ashram
Spiritual community founded in 1926 by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother; the courtyard of its main building holds their samadhi.
Afternoon: the Tamil Quarter
Across the canal, the Vedapureeswarar temple starts Puducherry Tourism’s Tamil heritage walk. The house of the poet Subramania Bharathi is a few streets away, and the Big Market (Goubert Market) is the busiest place in town. The Immaculate Conception Cathedral, consecrated in 1791, is on the way back towards the sea.
Arunankapilan · CC BY-SA 3.0 TempleVedapureeswarar Temple (Easwaran Koil)
Shiva temple in the Tamil Quarter, destroyed in 1748 and rebuilt in 1788; with the Varadaraja Perumal temple close by, the nucleus around which the old town grew.
- 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.
- Market
Goubert Market (Grand Bazaar)
Pondicherry’s big market in the Tamil Quarter, on the Puducherry Tourism heritage walk through the Tamil streets.
BishkekRocks · CC BY-SA 3.0 ChurchImmaculate Conception Cathedral
Cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore, consecrated in 1791 and known locally as Samba Kovil.
Evening: the south boulevard and the sea
See the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the south boulevard, then end where you began: on the Promenade, by the statue of Dupleix.
Pinakpani · CC BY-SA 4.0 ChurchBasilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Gothic Revival basilica on the south boulevard, built from 1902 and known for its stained-glass panels of the life of Christ and the saints.
- 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.
