Other Definitions
pondicherry (dest)
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Pondicherryright Pondicherry (पॉंडिचेरी in Hindi), currently undergoing a name change to Puduchery, is the name of a union territory and its capital in the south of India. The name "puduchery" means "new village" in Tamil. The French spelt it "Poudichéry", which is the closest French approximation to the Tamil pronunciation. At some point, the hand-written 'u' was mistaken for an 'n', and the misspelling stuck. Geography Pondicherry consists of four small unconnected districts: Pondicherry, Karaikal, and Yanam on the Bay of Bengal and Mah on the Arabian Sea. The first two are by far the larger ones, and are both enclaves of Tamil Nadu. The territory has a total area of 492 km: Pondicherry (city) 293 km, Karaikal 160 km, Mah 9 km and Yanam 30 km. It has 0,97 million inhabitants (2001). History - See also: French India
The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, of the early 2nd century AD, mentions a marketplace named Poduke (ch. 60), which G.W.B. Huntingford identified as possibly being Arikamedu, about 2 miles from the modern Pondicherry. Huntingford further notes that Roman pottery was found at Arikamedu in 1937, and archeological excavations between 1944 and 1949 showed that it was "a trading station to which goods of Roman manufacture were imported during the first half of the 1st century AD".1 Before this period nothing is known with certainty. The "Bahur Plates", issued in the 8th century speak of a Sanskrit University which was here from an earlier period. Legend has it that the sage Agastya established his Ashram here and the place was known as Agastiswaram. An inscription found near the Vedhapuriswara Temple hints at the credibility of this legend. History continues at the beginning of the fourth century A. D. when the Pondicherry area is part of the Pallava Kingdom of Kanchipuram. During the next centuries Pondicherry is occupied by different dynasties of the south: in the tenth century A.D. the Cholas of Tanjavur took over, only to be replaced by the Pandya Kingdom in the thirteenth century. After a brief invasion by the Muslim rulers of the North, who established the Sultanate of Madurai, the Vijayanagar Empire took control of almost all the South of India and lasted till 1638, when the Sultan of Bijapur began to rule over Gingee. Much of the credit for putting Pondicherry into the framework of strategic importance, as far as colonial scheme of things is concerned, should rest definitely with the French. The French East India Company set up a trading centre at Pondicherry in 1673. This outpost eventually became the chief French settlement in India. Dutch and British trading companies also wanted trade with India. Wars raged between these European countries and spilled over into the Indian subcontinent. The Dutch captured Pondicherry in 1693 but returned it to France by the Treaty of Ryswick in 1699. The French acquired Mahe in the 1720's, Yanam in 1731, and Karaikal in 1738. During the Anglo-French wars (1742-1763), Pondicherry changed hands frequently. The British finally returned it to the French in 1814. When the British gained control of the whole of India in the late 1850's, they allowed the French to retain their few settlements in the country, including Pondicherry. On January 16, 1761, the British captured Pondicherry from the French, but the Treaty of Paris (1763) returned the city to the French. It was taken again by the British in 1793 amid the Wars of the French Revolution, but once again returned to France in 1814. It remained a part of French India until 1954. The independence of India in 1947 gave impetus to the union of France's Indian possessions with former British India. An agreement between France and India in 1948 agreed to an election in France's Indian possessions to choose their political future. The de jure union of French India with the Indian Union did not take place until 1962, although de facto, the bureaucracy had been united with India's on 01 November, 1954. It was organized as a Union Territory in 1963. Pondicherry still has a large number of Tamil residents with French passports, whose ancestors were in French Governmental service and who chose to remain French at the time of Independence. Apart from the monuments pertaining to the French Period, there is the French Consulate in Pondicherry and several cultural organisation, and even the Foyer du Soldat for war veterans of the French Army. Of the cultural organisations the French Institute, the Alliance Francais and the Ecole Francais d'Extreme Orient are noteworthy. Government & Administration Pondicherry is a Union Territory, not a seperate State. A Union Territory (UT) has its own government but falls directly under the Central Government in New Delhi. Though a UT also has an elected Chief Minister and cabinet members, laws and legislative regulations made in these areas have to get sanction or need to be ratified by the Central Government (Centre). The Centre is represented by the Lt. Governor, who resides at the Raj Nivas at the Park, the former palace of the French Governor. The Centre is also responsible for the financial well-being of these Union Territories, whereas the state get more or less a fixed amount and need to balance their budget by their own revenue and income. Hence taxes in the U. T.'s are usually lower than the states. Pondicherry (city) People in the city of Pondicherry today speak both French and English in addition to Tamil. The city is protected against the sea by a 1.25 mile long seawall, first completed by the French in 1735, which reaches a height of 27 feet above sea level. The sea wall protected the city from the tsunami spawned by the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake as the waves reached only 24 feet above high tide. Famous people who have lived in Pondicherry include Sri Aurobindo and Subramanya Bharathy who took part in the Indian independence movement. Hollywood film director M. Night Shyamalan was born in Pondicherry. It is also the birthplace and home of the titular character in Yann Martel's Life of Pi, before he emigrates to Canada. The city houses Sri Aurobindo's Ashram, a spiritual community dedicated to The Mother and Sri Aurobindo's teachings and vision. See also External links Notes - The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, transl. G.W.B. Huntingford (Hakluyt Society, 1980), p. 119.
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