Pondicherry is a Union Territory
of India. It is a former French colony. It consists of four non-contiguous districts
or enclaves and is named for the largest, Pondicherry.
The territory is currently undergoing a name change to the original name of
the city, Puduchery meaning "
new village" in the official Tamil
language. The French spelled it "
Poudichéry", which is the
closest French approximation to the Tamil pronunciation.It is also known as
The French Riviera of the East.
Pondicherry consists of four small unconnected districts: Pondicherry, Karaikal, and Yanam on the Bay of Bengal and Mahe on the Arabian Sea. Pondicherry and Karaikal are by far the larger ones,and are both enclaves of Tamil Nadu.Yanam and Mahé are enclaves of Andhra Pradesh,and Kerala respectively.The territory has a total area of 492 km²: Pondicherry (city) 293 km²,Karaikal 160 km²,Mahé 9 km²and Yanam 30 km².It has 900 000 inhabitants (2001)
History
Legendary associations trace the origin of this city to Rishi Agastya, the revered sage of the south. And excavations near Pondicherry reveal that a Roman settlement existed here 2000 years ago. Pondicherry has been the theatre of many battles in the wars between the British and the French, and was the capital of French India before it attained independence in 1954. Pondicherry is famous as a centre chosen by late Sri Aurobindo, revolutionary turned saint, who built his Ashram, which draws huge crowd of tourists.
