Photographing Pondicherry
Places where the light, the architecture or the wildlife reward a camera. Ask before photographing people, follow the rules of places of worship, and photograph private residences only from the street.
The seafront at sunrise
The Promenade faces east over the Bay of Bengal, with the Old Lighthouse and the French War Memorial along it.
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.
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.
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.
Façades and towers
The Greco-Roman front of Our Lady of Angels, the Gothic Revival Basilica, the gopuram of the Vedapureeswarar temple and the verandas of the Tamil Quarter, and Golconde’s concrete lines from the street.
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.
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.
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.
- 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.
Birds and backwaters
Ousteri and Bahour lakes for water birds, and the Chunnambar backwaters.
.jpg/960px-Ousteri_lake_a.k.a._Osudu_lake_(48918579507).jpg)
Dinesh Valke from Thane, India · CC BY-SA 2.0 AttractionOusteri Lake (Oussudu)
The largest lake of Puducherry, about 800 hectares shared with Tamil Nadu: a man-made tank declared a bird sanctuary in 2008.
P Jeganathan · CC BY-SA 3.0 AttractionBahour Lake
The second largest lake in Puducherry and one of its Important Bird Areas, near Bahour in the south of the territory.
- Attraction
Chunnambar Water Sports Complex
Boating centre on the Chunnambar backwaters, named by Puducherry Tourism for pedal boats, kayaks and speed-boat rides.