PONDICHERRY
• Pondicherry, now known as Puducherry is the capital and
• The confluence of history and geography, and of
antiquity and modernity, that Puducherry represents has
created a rare mixture of values and styles. An estimated
350 temples, some of them little more than shrines, are
found in the town and its environs. The oldest among
the churches, the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
was built in the 1700s.
• The visitor is greeted by mellow colours of cream, yellow,
pink and grey with flamboyant bougainvillea bursting
over gates and compound walls of cool courtyards. It
has such places as the international township Auroville;
the imposing Gingee Fort; the holy temple towns of
Kanchipuram, Tiruvannamalai and Chidambaram.
• Colonial-era buildings, a handful of them over three
hundred years old, are still to be found, some in
remarkably good condition and still occupied.
• The town is more familiarly known as Pondicherry or
Pondy, lingering relics of its French and British past.
LOCATION
the Union Territory of Puducherry in India.
• The city is in the Puducherry district on the southeast coast
of India and is surrounded by Bay of Bengal to the east
and the state of Tamil Nadu, with which it shares most of
its culture, heritage, and language.
• Puducherry city is located at a distance of 160 kms south
of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, on the Coromandel Coast of the
Bay of Bengal. ‘New Settlement’ is how ‘Puducherry’
translates from Tamil. The French turned the name into the
more sonorous ‘Pondichéry’, and, when the town passed
into British hands, it became anglicised into ‘Pondicherry’
before re-acquiring its original name in 2006.
• A major attraction in the town is, of course, the Sri
Aurobindo Ashram, and the numerous establishments
associated with it—spiritual, cultural, educational, and
commercial. Thousands visit and meditate at the twin
samadhis of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother around which
the Ashram has grown.
TOPOGRAPHY
The topography of Pondicherry is the same as that of •
coastal Tamil Nadu. Pondicherry's average elevation is at sea
level, and a number of sea inlets, referred to as "backwaters"
can be found. Pondicherry experiences extreme coastal
erosion as a result of a breakwater constructed in 1989, just
to the south of the city. Where there was once a broad,
sandy beach, now the city is protected against the sea by a
2-km-long seawall which sits at a height of 8.5 m above sea
level. Whilst there was an early seawall made by the French
government in 1735, this was not "hard structure coastal •
defense" so much as an adjunct to the old shipping pier and
a transition from the beach to the city.
• The history of Puducherry can emphatically be bundled
CLIMATE
The climate of Pondicherry is classified by the Köppen
climate classification as tropical wet and dry, similar to that
of coastal Tamil Nadu. Summer lasts from April to early
June, when maximum temperatures may reach 41 °C
(106 °F). The average maximum temperature is 36 °C
(97 °F). Minimum temperatures are in the order of 28–
32 °C (82–90 °F). This is followed by a period of high
humidity and occasional thundershowers from June till
September.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The city of Puducherry does not have a recoded history
from antiquity Puducherry has history recorded only after
the advent of the colonial powers such as the Dutch ,
Portuguese , English and the French .
• Pallava Dynasty 325-900
• Chola Dynasty 900-1279
• Pandya Dynasty 1279-1370
• Vijayanagar Empire 1370-1614
• Sultanate of Bijapur 1614-1638
The Pre Colonial period started with the reign of the
Pallavas who continued to rule the empire from 325 AD
- 900 AD , then came the Chola Dynasty for the time
period from 900 AD 1279 AD, continued by Pandya
dynasty from 1279 AD - 1370 AD during 14th century ,
it was under the rule of the Naikship of Gingee denoting
the Vijayanagar Empire from 1370 AD 1614 AD which
was conquered by the Sultan of Bijapur and he
continued for the phase from 1614 AD - 1638 AD . It
was during the period of the Sultan when the Portuguese
and Danish merchants used the place as the trading
center .
between two points. That is to say, the region started as a
diminutive fishing village, and now it is looked at as a
magnificent port city located in the south India. The
French people set their eyes in Puducherry during 1674
and left alone a portion of them when their unmolested
decree ended up during the year 1954. Truth has to be
told that nothing much has changed since the departure
of the French. Today, the union territory of Puducherry
stands tall as Quintessence of French Culture. Owing to
its rich historical background, the atmosphere of
Puducherry still bears a delicate touch of French.
EVENT TIMELINE
1523 1618 1624 1674- 1693
PORTUGUESE SET UP A FACTORY DUTCH BUY TEXTILES DANES SET UP A FACTORY FIRST FRENCH SETTLEMENT

1693- 1700 1765- 1778

DUTCH RULE 1700- 1761 1761- 1765 FRENCH RULE
FRENCH RULE BRITISH RULE

1778- 1783
1783- 1793 1793- 1815 1815- 1954
BRITISH RULE
FRENCH RULE BRITSH RULE FRENCH RULE
EVOLUTION OF THE CITY
1693
Before the Dutch arrived
Pondicherry was primarily a
weaving and fishing village
1694 1705 1880
Design of a large new town , with a very French executed the old plan in Grid pattern proposed by
regular geometric layout , rectangular the planning process Dutch according to prevailing
blocks of houses , separated by straight caste system
streets , intersecting at right angles
TIMELINE OF THE GROWTH
• By 1699, the French started establishing the plan of the
Dutch. The fort was surrounded by a moat from the river
Uppar and a factory was set up inside the fort.
• By 1705, the fort was expanded, and the Boulevard town
started expanding.
• By 1755, the French fortified the town on all sides by a
moat to protect from their enemies. The Uppar river was
channelised to the Northern Boulevard which
distinguished the town as French town and Tamil town.
• By 1820, the moat was destroyed by the English during
the war which created a lane on all four sides that looked
like a Boulevard. Thus, the town got its name as
Boulevard town.
SEASHORE AS A DATUM- Development Along Shore

Linear development Development along Concentric development with Concentric pattern growth
along the shoreline and the shore line in linear corridor development extending towards the sea
away from it concentric circles

THE DIVISION OF THE GRAND CANAL

• Since the beginning of time, the French town has a noteworthy geographical
feature- a canal cutting right through the site of habitable land which makes up
the city of Pondicherry.
• As it gained reputation for trade, it turned into an important port city. Traders
from lands far and wide crossed the great waters and banked upon the mighty
and highly temperamental tides along the rocky sea shore of Pondicherry.
• It ran essentially parallel to the coast, the colonial settlement happened strictly
in the portion of land enclosed by the sea on one side and the canal on the
other side. The native Tamil population was, resultantly, pushed to the other
side of the canal.
• As time advanced, this canal got established as a strict line of control in the city,
with occasional connections between the two parts. The disparity between the
lifestyles of the two almost-halves off the same city was astounding.
 THE FRENCH QUARTER THE HERITAGE TOWN

The French quarter has buildings inspired by the European

classical style In French quarter each building with different
design - the interior of the building with its colonnade,
portico, porch and garden made with total privacy from
the street outside.

French Town originally developed along the coastline around

the Government Square (present 'Bharathi Park' area).This
Square was surrounded by stately government buildings,
while residential buildings interspersed by institutional
buildings extended on either side
In comparison, the French part is still quaint, with more old
houses lining the streets. "The real heritage of Pondicherry is
not just the buildings, it's also the way the town has been
laid out," said Rafael Gastebois, a French conservation
architect working on the government's 'smart city' project, to
help balance progress and better facilities for residents and
tourists with heritage conservation
The Whitetown part is a mixed culture where we can find
foreign settlers, French ashram people, bengalis .The
French quarter, also known as White Town, ostensibly
Pondic due to its predominant occupation by French
communities before Independence, is Cafe characterised by
bright yellow and white buildings. These homes have now
been like qui converted into homestays, hotels, shops and
restaurants, allowing visitors a glimpse of the resplendent
lives of the noblemen of a different era. Wide, European-
style roads and canopied avenues allow tourists a respite
from traffic and heat of the main city.
 CONNECTIVITY ALONG ROAD NETWORKS MAJOR LANDMARKS

A major arterial connects an interstate highway to cities and

countries. A minor arterial connects major arterials to
collectors. A collector connects an arterial to a
neighborhood (a collector is not an arterial). A local access
road connects individual residences to a collector. Group Members- Aditi, Honey,
Shivam, Harsh P., Nishit, Nihar