Bharathi Park

History

Aayi Mandapam, the white monument at the centre of the park, was built in the time of Napoleon III. Also called the Park Monument, it commemorates the provision of water to the town under French rule, and is named after Aayi, a woman of the town who, as the story goes, gave up her own house so that a reservoir could be built to supply the town with water.

The Governor’s palace beside the park was begun by Governor Pierre Benoît Dumas in 1738 and completed under Dupleix. Destroyed by the British in 1761, it was rebuilt from 1766, when Jean Law de Lauriston raised a new town on the ruins: the palace and offices to the north, warehouses to the south and barracks to the east and west.

What to see

• Aayi Mandapam at the centre of the park
• Lok Niwas (Raj Nivas) on the north side
• The Puducherry Museum and the Romain Rolland Library close by

Why visit

It is the natural resting point on any walk through the French Quarter, in the square around which the French town was rebuilt.