Puducherry / Pondicherry, former capital of the French territory
Puducherry lies 100miles south of Chennai, the seafront looks vaguely Mediterranean (the French reserved the sea front for their homes (and laid out 5 streets parallel to the beach on which to build their fine mansions). This area in colloquially known as the White Town, the with high-walled compounds protecting gracious old buildings set among shady trees.
We went to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram which was set in beautiful gardens, everyone was silent and sat and meditated around the tomb of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. In a busy city it was a haven of peace.
As it was a holiday most places were closed so our driver took us round the old French quarter, pointing out the small canal which used to be the demarcation line where, in the past, the locals weren’t allowed to cross unless they worked in the French area or had business there.
The roads here still retain the old French names, like Rue Dumas where there is a statue of Joan of Arc.
At least the Cathedral was open.
These school girls were well behaved and so quiet.
In the afternoon we went to Auroville, the ‘City of Dawn’ where Aurobindo and The Mother had built. It is intended to be a future-orientated international city where all persons of goodwill can come and live together in peace. It was very interesting and obviously as we were not followers we were not allowed to enter the Matrumandir (golden globe) or the area surrounding it. We would have to surrender all our worldly goods to Auroville be able to find divine consciousness. That’s not likely!
The next day we were off to our last stop, Mahabalipuram
