New Director At Alliance Française De Pondichérry

Alliance française de Pondichéry (AFP), one of the oldest in the world and the first Alliance française of Asia bid adieu to its charismatic director Fabrice Mongiat in August. Olivier Litvine, who was the director of Alliance française de Dhaka (AFD), has now taken over the directorship of AFP.

As the new director, Litvine’s first project will be a photo exhibition titled ‘War and colonies (1914-1918)’. The photo exhibition was organised at AFD by Litvine earlier this year commemorating the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. Litvine is planning to bring this exhibition to the “French town” of India on November 11^th, Armistice Day. Armistice Day is celebrated as a global commemoration of the day the pact was signed between the Allies and Germany at Compiègne in France to put an end to World War I.

Speaking to Centenary News, Litvine said, “The photographic exhibition is ‘no Spielberg exhibition’ just the faces and postures of real men fighting a dirty war.”

The exhibition features a rich collection of photographs from the battlefields of World War I including 35 rare photographs of colonial troops in the Great War. Many cities in India are currently hosting this exhibition and it is an incredible opportunity to have it come to Puducherry on Armistice Day. Around 6.5 lakh colonial troops fought in the World War I including an estimated 1.5 lakh Indians.

Apart from the photo exhibition, the new director is also planning ‘Encounters’, an annual Indo-French festival where artists and writers from France as well as India who were influenced by the French culture will have a common platform to showcase their talents. Musicians from Réunion Island are also expected to participate in this festival. Litvine also plans to encourage a collaboration of French designers and local talents to bring in a taste of French Fashion to Pondicherry.

PondyART’s New Exhibition Cum Pop-Up Market

PondyART is organizing its new event “The Big Indian Street Picture” by Dhruv Dhakan and Swarat Ghosh on 12 September at the Old Distillery, at the end of Beach Road.

The exhibition will open this Friday at 5pm. The photographs will be on exhibit until mid-October and will remain open for the public eye from 11 am to 6 pm. The Department of Tourism, Govt. of Puducherry is supporting this endeavour of PondyART as are The Hindu, Kasha Ki Asha, Trikaya Photos and Palani Hills Design Center. The exhibition will be opened with an on-site Pop-Up Market to emphasize and support the show’s presentation of street life.

The participants of the Pop-Up Market include but are not limited to Divaart, Takla Makan, Sharana, Raga and Kriti NGOs, Aicha, Naushad Ali, Ocean, Will’m,  Artyzan, Muthu Leathers, Harmony House and Kasha Ki Asha.

“The Big Indian Street Picture” will have selected works of Dhakan and Ghosh, both Indian photographers who have captured the scenes of India in color and black and white. Dhruv Dhakan is a street photographer and graphic/web designer based in Ahmedabad. Swarat Ghosh, a visual designer by profession is based in Hyderabad. The photos captured in cities like Ahmedabad, Varanasi and Hyderabad speak of moments and people and offer a record of vibrant street life.

PondyART, which was created in December 2012, runs monthly exhibitions at the Old Distillery. As per the motto of Pondy ART, ‘To Get Art Out There’, it utilises public space to build awareness of the issues challenging India today through fine art photography.  Pondy ART also organizes Pondy PHOTO an annual photography festival.

Chunnambar Boathouse- Pondicherry

Located in Ariyankuppam, Chunnambar is a popular boating venue famous for its backwaters and lush greenery. It is situated at just 7 Kms from Pondicherry and 1 Km from Ariankuppam. The Pondicherry Tourism Enterprise PTTDC holds backwater boat tours, boating, trekking, picnics on Paradise Beach and much more. Moreover, the resort offers boats on rental basis and people can select the boats suiting to their requirement. If you are looking for a peddle boat, then you need to pay Rs 60 per hour. For motor boat, the people are required to pay Rs 125 per head.

People who are planning to relax in their summer vacation can get into the ‘Sunrise Panorama’. This is actually the tree top houses in Chunnambar which enable the tourists to refresh and unwind with their family. You can either read a novel, paint, listen to music meditate or even stay overnight, all on the top of a tree! Sunrise panorama’ (a two storey tree top house) gives you an unrestricted view of the backwater up to its mouth. ‘Palm house’ on the other hand overlooks the artificial pond and park. ‘Nest brid’ is the perfect above for the adventure loving folks, it has a rope ladder that leads to a small balcony. All in a tree house!

An increasing number of people find pleasure in bird watching at the lakeside bird sanctuary. Pondicherry Tourism authorities offer pleasure boat rides. Pedal boats and row boats are available on hire. A lakeside restaurant serves meals & snacks.

Chunnambar, the perfect picnic spot-Chunnambar is the right mixture of fun, sports, calm, romance and beauty. You can swim, row a boat, stay on a tree house and watch the sunrise, have a picnic at the beach and play beach volleyball, go trekking, or even fishing!

Pondy For A Day Tripper

                                                            Welcome to Pondy

Often it is a tourist’s dilemma as to what to see in Pondicherry just between 8am to 9pm. of a day. !

There are three ways to get acquainted with Pondicherry:

• Let the hotel management arrange a guide.
• Book a seat with Pondicherry Tourism department’s tourist bus service.
• For a guided & conducted tour of the commercial units of Sri Aurobindo Ashram or Auroville book a seat with Auto Care Service near the BSNL office.
• With the help of Google, a guide book and recommendations from friends discover and have an adventurous trip.

In the category ‘D’, it is better to have one’s own transport to save time. Or else, on coming to Pondy, hire a motor bike from a bike rental shop. There are several of them on the Mission Street and the nearby streets. For the fun of it try a bi-cycle as well.

Most visited touristic sites

The most visited places in a day’s trip to Pondicherry are :

• Sri Aurobindo Ashram,
• Manakula Vinayagar Temple (Ganesh) ,
• Pondicherry Museum,
• Ashram’s Hand-made-paper factory,
• Sacred Heart Church,
• Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception,
• Church of Our Lady of the Angels,
• Botanical Garden,
• Bharathi Park,
• Chunnambar Beach & Paradise Beach,
• Auroville and
• The Promenade road or the beach road where some major historical land marks are :
  • the French War Memorial,
  • the majestic 19th Century Light house,
  • Kargil War Memorial,
  • Dr. Ambedkar’s Memorial,
  • the French Consulate

For a safe sea bathing, visit Serenity / Bodhi beach or Auro beach.

Pilgrimage trip

For those who are on a pilgrimage tour, apart from Sri Aurobindo Ashram and the Ganesh Temple, there are also some other famous historical temples within the boulvard such as Kanniga Parameswari temple (dedicated to Shakti ), Varadaraja  Perumal Koil (Vishnu temple) & Vedhapureeswarar Iswaran Koil (Shiva temple) on the M.G.Road, Kalatheeswaran Koil on the Mission Street, Tirupathy Devasthanam on the Nehru Street. All these temples are within 15 minutes of walk from the Chief Secretariat located on the beach road on East.

In the outskirts about 9 kms north of Pondicherry, on the old Pondy-Tindivanam highway, the Panchamukha Hanuman or Anjaneya temple has become very famous. This area is also known as Panchavatee Kshetram. The deity, sculptured out of a single granite stone, is about 36 meters tall with 5 different heads facing five different directions. On availability of tokens, relish its south Indian lunch.

The Pyramid shaped Karaneswara Natarajar temple is a fairly recent introduction to Pondicherry. It is about 7kms from the north of Pondicherry University on the East Coast Road. Its lush green and serene open ambience with the sound of breaking of waves in background is very soothing to the senses.

There is also a Shirdi Sai Baba temple in kalapet near the Pondicherry University.

Shopping in Pondicherry

Pondicherry is also a shopper’s haven. The major shopping streets are Nehru Street, Mission Street, M.G.Road, Kosakadai Street where premium boutiques, showrooms of national and international brands, local ancestral shops and new up-coming stores cater to one’s taste and budget.

Sri Aurobindo Asharm has its own commercial units where hands made products are sold. Its details may be obtained from the Ashram’s reception or its Bureau Central (near the BSNL office).

Auroville too has several handmade units. Further information on this may be obtained from the information centre in Auroville.

Tasty bites

Pondicherry though geographically small serves South Indian, North Indian, creole, French, Italian, Chinese and continental cuisine. The Jain temple on Anna Salai serves lunch as well between 12.30pm and 1pm. So enjoy mouth watering multi-cuisine – buffet or a la Carte – either in a small fast moving joint or in a posh restaurant.

One can even make a combo of sightseeing, shopping and gastronomy.!

So a lot can be done just in a day between: “Bonjour Pondy” & “Au-revoir Pondy”.!

Sri Aurobindo Ashram Pondicherry

The Sri Aurobindo Ashram located on rue de la Marine, is one of the most well known and wealthiest ashrams in India, with devotees from India and all over the world flocking to it for spiritual salvation. 

Its spiritual tenets represent a synthesis of yoga and modern science. It is open to the public daily between 08-1200 hrs and 1400-1800 hrs. Children below 3 years of age are not allowed into the ashram and photography is allowed only with permission of the ashram authorities.

History of Sri Aurobindo Ashram Pondicherry

The Sri Aurobindo Ashram was founded by Sri Aurobindo on the 24 November 1926 (Siddhi Day). Sri Aurobindo Ghose was one of India’s greatest philosopher-poets, who originally came to Pondy to escape persecution by the British. It was after arriving in puducherry, that he was drawn into the spiritual realm and discovered the power of yoga. His philosophy deeply rooted in yoga and his writings inspired a number of followers.

One of them was a Parisian mystic, painter and musician called Mirra Alfassa, who was so inspired by his philosophy that she stayed on in puducherry and was instrumental in establishment of the ashram. At the time there were no more than 24 disciples in the Ashram. In December of that year, Sri Aurobindo decided to withdraw from public view, and appointed his co-worker Mirra Alfassa, thenceforth known as The Mother in charge of the ashram.

Mirra Alfassa- Companion of Sri Aurobindo

After Aurobindo’s death in 1950, the running of the Ashram was entrusted to his chief disciple and companion, Mirra Alfassa, (also known as ‘The Mother’). The idea of Auroville or the “City of Down” was conceived by ‘The Mother’. She died in 1973 at the age of 93. The ashram’s influence can be felt in most of puducherry.

The main ashram building is where the mortal remains of Aurobindo and the Mother are kept. Their ‘Samadhi’ or mausoleum, which is generally surrounded by supplicating devotees, is in the central courtyard under a frangipani tree and is covered daily with flowers. Some of the ashram’s facilities like the Library and the Main Building (during collective meditation) can be accessed, only after obtaining a gate pass from the Bureau Central or some of the Ashram Guest Houses.

 

Address

Sri Aurobindo Ashram,

White Town, Pondicherry , 605001,