Pondicherry - An Indo French Getaway - Part 2
Pondicherry also known as Puducherry is the most admirable destinations of South India due to its wide varieties of offerings that can quench any traveler’s thirst right from beaches, churches, temples, cuisines and most importantly it is every photographer's dream with the vibrant urban architecture depicting the French style.
This was my second trip to Pondy with my family. We had planned our stay for two nights at Le-Supreme Inn (the lap of luxury).
Day 1 – 29th June – Bangalore to Pondicherry
We started off at 7 am in the morning from Bangalore and reached Pondicherry by 2:30 PM with one breakfast stop. We reached Pondy at around lunch time. So we started looking for restaurants. Finally we found Pondicherry Saravana Bhavan but only meal was available. Food was ok.
We then headed straight to our hotel. This hotel is located on Mission Street and all the famous landmarks are located within walking distance from here. In fact we were happy to know that we were staying in the French colony itself.
After freshening up, we took a stroll along the French colony.
French Colony also known as White town is every traveler’s dream. While walking along the narrow lanes of French colony, we were taken back to the French era with those vibrant yellow colored walls with vintage lamps, French cafes and even the street names are in French here. Street names in this colony start with “Rue”.
Rock Beach also known as Gandhi beach is the most famous beach here and is flocked by tourists since every lane of the French colony ends at this beach.
French war memorial – While walking along the rock beach you will notice this French War Memorial. This memorial was built in 1937 and is dedicated to the martyrs of World War I.
As we continued to walk along this rock beach, we came across Mahatma Gandhi statue. Right across the road you will also find Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s statue.
To commemorate 75 years of Indian Independence, there are interesting exhibits on India’s history in the same square.
In the same avenue, you will also see Pondicherry’s old light house. Entry for visitors is not allowed here.
Bharathi Park also known as government Park is situated in the central region of the old colonial town. The Aayi Mandapam or the Park Monument is a famous white monument which lies at the center of the park and it flaunts brilliant Roman architecture. Well maintained lawns, wide varieties of flora and fauna makes this park a huge green lung space in this White town area. Also you will find statues of eminent personalities around this park.
We then continued to walk along the tiny by-lanes of French Colony.
Our Lady of Angels church
This is the fourth oldest church in Pondy. One should make time to visit this church which is located right within the French Colony. This church boosts serenity. After praying I sat there admiring the architecture on the interior walls of the church and Jesus Crist’s stories beautifully depicted on the walls. Also this is the only church in Pondicherry that organizes mass every Sunday and that too in three different languages, English, Tamil, and French.
You will also see Pondy market here where you can buy stuffs like jewelry made out of sea shells, coconut shells and many more interesting stuffs.
It was dinner time and we looked for restaurants around our hotel. Hotel Sarguru on Mission street is the best hotel in case you want to relish authentic south India food around this area. We had our meals on both the days here only.
Day 2 -30th June– Exploring Pondicherry
We woke up after a good night’s sleep. Complimentary breakfast was served in our rooms by our hotel staff. It was a breakfast combo and fulfilling along with coffee. After this refreshing breakfast, we set off to our first stop of the day Auroville.
Auroville
Please note that planning a visit to Auroville takes half of your day. I have visited this earlier. Hence you can find all the details about this place in my earlier Pondy blog (Link). Sharing some clicks taken at Auroville during this trip.
We next set off to Eden beach which was close-by from Auroville.
Eden Beach
Eden beach in Pondicherry is one of the ten blue flag certification beaches in India and is the only Blue Flag beach in the city. From the parking lot, you will see that the path leading to the beach is full of lush green vegetation.
You will find food stalls selling sea food items in shacks. It was too hot here. So we set off towards our hotel and enroute stopped at Hotel Sarguru for lunch. Post lunch we went back to our hotel for relaxation as the plan in the evening was to cover temples which open after 4:30 PM.
Arulmigu Manakula Vinayagar Devasthanam
For people with religious bent of mind, this temple shouldn’t be missed since it is located in White Town itself. This is an ancient temple built more than 350 years ago following a Dravidian style of architecture. While waiting in the darshan queue, you can easily spend time admiring the interior walls of the temple showcasing different forms of Lord Ganesha.
After taking blessings from Lord Ganesha we next started exploring the streets around since all the lanes were lit by now and we could see shoppers all around. While strolling, we saw another colorful Gopuram and the soothing chants were inviting us.
Arulmigu Chetty Koil / Sri Kaalatheeswarar koil
This temple is walking distance from Arulmigu Vinayagar Temple. Gopuram is very colourful. Main deity is Lord Shiva but you will find small temples of other deities too. Neslted in the busy Mission street, I was surprised to see hardly any visitors to this temple. The huge grand gopuram just cannot be missed on this road. Looks like the temple has been recently renovated since all the art works and paintings looked so fresh.
After seeking blessings from the deities, we next went to rock beach again and sat on one of the benches facing the sea to enjoy the calm evening breeze which was a therapy in itself.
Day 3 – 1st July– Bye Bye Pondy and Chidambaram here we come...
We checked out from our Hotel and drove towards Chidambaram to visit the most famous Nataraja temple. It took 2.5 hours for us to reach Chidambaram from Pondy. We reached there by 12:30 PM just on time since the temple closing time was 1 PM. One important point – Parking facilities need to be relooked at by temple authorities since we are expected to park in the tiny lane of the temple entrance which houses some residential buildings too. Another option is to park on the main road. Finally we found a spot near the temple, parked our car and entered the temple.
Thillai Nataraja Temple, also referred as the Chidambaram Nataraja Temple, is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Nataraja, the form of Shiva as the lord of dance. The present temple was built in the 10th century when Chidambaram was the capital of the Chola dynasty, making it one of the oldest surviving active temple complexes in South India. The temple complex is really huge. We entered through the north gate and we could find lot of art work on the walls as if they are narrating some stories. But we didn’t have much time to click pictures here since the temple was about to close. And in the scorching summer heat, it was tough to stop and look around. So we just made a run to the main temple. Luckily we made it just on time for the final afternoon Aarti. After praying to the deity, we had to rush back soon since watchman came around whistling chasing us away as the temple was about to close. So we decided to plan a visit some other time so that we can explore this temple at leisure.
We had lunch in Chidambaram. For food , you have options like Adyar Anand Bhavan and Saravana Bhavan at walking distance from the temple. We had lunch at Adyar Anand Bhavan and then headed straight to Bangalore with the satisfaction of yet another relaxing family vacation.
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