Puducherry

Puduchery formerly known as Pondicherry is a Union territory in India. The Union Territory of Puducherry comprises of the erstwhile French colonies viz. Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam. The Puducherry and Karaikal regions are surrounded by the State of Tamilnadu, whereas Mahe is surrounded by the State of Kerala and Yanam by the state of Andra Pradesh.

Before independence, Puducherry was under the French Colonial powers and hence part of the residents in Puducherry are descendents of French citizenship. Also, the plan of the city of Puducherry is based on the French grid pattern and many of the buildings are in the French colonial style. Hinduism is the major religion and other religions include Christianity and Islam. The major language spoken is Tamil and other languages spoken are Malayalam, Telugu, Hindi. Due to the strong influence of the French, it is also common among many of the people. The culture of Puducherry is diverse and vibrant. Despite strong French influence, it follows Indian culture.

Auroville is a small town 8 km north of Pondicherry. This town was a vision of The Mother from Sri Aurobindo Ashram at Pondicherry as it's an international town. She envisioned a town where unity will be celebrated and all will have a spiritual vocation.

Pondicherry is well connected to the rest of India via a large network of National Highways, a Railway Terminal and a Domestic Airport. It is also in close proximity to International airports.

By Air - Puducherry's Domestic airport is connected to Bengaluru via daily flights - except for Wednesdays. Travellers can also drive down from the Domestic & International airports in Chennai, Trichy or Bengaluru. Both Chennai (151 kms) and Trichy (203 kms) are just few hours by road, while Bangalore (307 kms) is a little longer.

By Rail – Daily connectivity to Villupuram, Chennai and Tirupathy are available. While tri-weekly trains connect Pondicherry to Bangalore and Mumbai, other cities like Kolkatta, Bhubaneshwar, New Delhi, Mangalore and Kanyakumari are connected by a weekly train.

By Road – The best connectivity is definitely by road. Multiple buses ply daily to and fro between Chennai and Bangalore. From hop-on hop-off local buses, to air-conditioned multi-axle luxury ones, Pondy also offers overnighter luxury buses to Hyderabad (784 kms).

Alternatively, one could just book a Taxi or coach for any of the above destinations.