Rest of South India

The places around Pondicherry are Auroville, Matri Mandir, Villiayanur, Gingee, Pichchavaram, Poompuhar, Mamallapuram, Karaikal, Nagore, Tranquebar, Velankanni and Chidambaram. All these above mentioned places are tourist spots and they have a historic past in them.

Auroville
This is an International and a Utopian city which is ten kilometers away from Pondicherry. This was founded by Mother Mirra Alfassa, the chief disciple of Sri Aurobindo. This place was designed by the French architect Roger Anger. This is the city of Dawn. The people worked hard to make this wasteland a lush

green field.Today it is a jungle with criss cross paths. The city sprawls over an area of 25 Square Kilometres. One third of the population is community people and the remaining are farmers. The activities of the natives are afforestation, organic culture, educational research, health care, etc. at present there are 1500 people from nearly 30 countries. The people are from India (33%), French (18%) and Germans (15%).

Matri Mandir
This is a spiritual and a physical centre. It is a testimonial to The Mother’s vision of unity and harmony to mankind. The remarkable monument in the form of a massive golden globe is a place for quite reflection and concentration. The inner sanctuary, unlike the traditional temple, does not enshrine an image of the mother but has an abstract representation of her notion of spirituality rendered in light and glass.

Villianur
Sri Gokilambal Thirukameshwara Temple at Villianur is ten kilometers away from Pondicherry. It is noted for its fine architecture. The annual Temple car festival held on full moon day in the month of May-June attracts large number of devotees. The huge chariot is taken out during this time for procession. High officials take part in this car festival which is a grand one.

Gingee
This historical town is famous for the 700 year old fort sprawling over three hillocks. The fort is said to be built by the Kone Chiefs and remained the strong hold of the Vijayanagar Kings, Marathas, Mughals, Carnatic Nawabs, The French and The British. The fort gained popularity under Raja Desingh, the army chief of Nawab of Arcot. Within the fort there are two temples, a mosque and several interesting structures.
 

Pichchavaram
The exotic and popular tourist site on the backwaters interconnected by the Vellar and Kollidam system is 16 kilometers away from Chidambaram. The unique mangrove forests sprawling over an area of 28,000 acres are quite rare and are rated among the healthiest mangrove occurrences in the world. This is a beautiful place to watch.

Poompuhar
This ancient port town is 35 kilometers from Pondicherry. This was the major town of the Cholas. The original town lies submerged in the sea and is of great

archaeological value. The excavations conducted here has revealed valuable information about the town planning, buildings, and sculptures, etc. the existence of ring wells near the sea shore which have been described in the Sangam Literature are quite interesting. Interesting sites are Sillapathikara Art Gallery, ancient Thirupallavanees-waram Temple, etc.

Mamallapuram
This historic sea-side resort is an open air museum displaying legacy of the Pallava architecture. It is also known for its natural beauty, vast stretch of glorious sandy beach, and delicious sea food. The world famous shore temple here is one of the oldest temples in the south and has been listed among the world heritage sites of UNESCO. The unique temple was built during the seventh century during the reign of Rajasimha. The five Rathas, Arjuna’s penance 14 caves and mandapams and sculpture museum along the beach side are found here.

Karaikal
This small enclave in Tamilnadu is one of the four districts of the Union Territory. It is about 300 kilometers south of Chennai and 135 kilometers away from Pondicherry on the east coast. Karaikal is known for its rich religious heritage and is ideally suited for visitors seeking solitude, leisure and serenity. The town is also noted for its distinct French flavour. It is well connected by road and the nearest airport and railway are Tiruchirapalli and Nagore respectively. The other places to watch in Karaikal are Lord Dharbaraneswaran Temple, Thirunallar, Karaikal Ammaiyar Temple, Jadaayupureeswarar Temple, T.R.Pattinam, Masthan Saheb Durgah, Our Lady Angels Church and Karaikal Beach.

The other places around Karaikal are Nagore, Tranquebar, Velankanni, and Chidambaram. These places are all religious and historical places. These places belong to the state of Tamilnadu. Thus to sum up Pondicherry is one of the treasures to India when comes to tourists spots. It is due to the economy, the facilities and the peaceful situations people abroad select such towns and cities to visit and enjoy. Not only do people enjoy they do learn a lot about the land, the people, the culture, the languages and finally get influenced by the conditions which are suitable for them. Pondicherry is surely a boon to India. One can say that it is because of the French rule and the culture that those people made the people adapt to the foreign culture and things have become easier and finer to both the people throughout the territory as well as for the tourists.