PONDICHERRY LOCATION

• Pondicherry, now known as Puducherry is the capital and

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.

• 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, • Puducherry city is located at a distance of 160 kms south
was built in the 1700s. of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, on the Coromandel Coast of the
• The visitor is greeted by mellow colours of cream, yellow, Bay of Bengal. ‘New Settlement’ is how ‘Puducherry’
pink and grey with flamboyant bougainvillea bursting translates from Tamil. The French turned the name into the
over gates and compound walls of cool courtyards. It more sonorous ‘Pondichéry’, and, when the town passed
has such places as the international township Auroville; into British hands, it became anglicised into ‘Pondicherry’
the imposing Gingee Fort; the holy temple towns of before re-acquiring its original name in 2006.
Kanchipuram, Tiruvannamalai and Chidambaram. • A major attraction in the town is, of course, the Sri
• Colonial-era buildings, a handful of them over three Aurobindo Ashram, and the numerous establishments
hundred years old, are still to be found, some in associated with it—spiritual, cultural, educational, and
remarkably good condition and still occupied. commercial. Thousands visit and meditate at the twin
• The town is more familiarly known as Pondicherry or samadhis of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother around which
Pondy, lingering relics of its French and British past. the Ashram has grown.
TOPOGRAPHY HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The topography of Pondicherry is the same as that of • The city of Puducherry does not have a recoded history
coastal Tamil Nadu. Pondicherry's average elevation is at sea from antiquity Puducherry has history recorded only after
level, and a number of sea inlets, referred to as "backwaters" the advent of the colonial powers such as the Dutch ,
can be found. Pondicherry experiences extreme coastal Portuguese , English and the French .
erosion as a result of a breakwater constructed in 1989, just • Pallava Dynasty 325-900
• Chola Dynasty 900-1279
to the south of the city. Where there was once a broad,
• Pandya Dynasty 1279-1370
sandy beach, now the city is protected against the sea by a • Vijayanagar Empire 1370-1614
2-km-long seawall which sits at a height of 8.5 m above sea • Sultanate of Bijapur 1614-1638
level. Whilst there was an early seawall made by the French
government in 1735, this was not "hard structure coastal • The Pre Colonial period started with the reign of the
defense" so much as an adjunct to the old shipping pier and Pallavas who continued to rule the empire from 325 AD
- 900 AD , then came the Chola Dynasty for the time
a transition from the beach to the city.
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 .
• The history of Puducherry can emphatically be bundled
CLIMATE between two points. That is to say, the region started as a
The climate of Pondicherry is classified by the Köppen diminutive fishing village, and now it is looked at as a
climate classification as tropical wet and dry, similar to that magnificent port city located in the south India. The
French people set their eyes in Puducherry during 1674
of coastal Tamil Nadu. Summer lasts from April to early and left alone a portion of them when their unmolested
June, when maximum temperatures may reach 41 °C decree ended up during the year 1954. Truth has to be
(106 °F). The average maximum temperature is 36 °C told that nothing much has changed since the departure
(97 °F). Minimum temperatures are in the order of 28– of the French. Today, the union territory of Puducherry
32 °C (82–90 °F). This is followed by a period of high stands tall as Quintessence of French Culture. Owing to
humidity and occasional thundershowers from June till its rich historical background, the atmosphere of
September. 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 1694 1705 1880

Before the Dutch arrived Design of a large new town , with a very French executed the old plan in Grid pattern proposed by
Pondicherry was primarily a regular geometric layout , rectangular the planning process Dutch according to prevailing
weaving and fishing village 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
The Whitetown part is a mixed culture where we can find
Square was surrounded by stately government buildings,
foreign settlers, French ashram people, bengalis .The
while residential buildings interspersed by institutional
French quarter, also known as White Town, ostensibly
buildings extended on either side
Pondic due to its predominant occupation by French
In comparison, the French part is still quaint, with more old communities before Independence, is Cafe characterised by
houses lining the streets. "The real heritage of Pondicherry is bright yellow and white buildings. These homes have now
not just the buildings, it's also the way the town has been been like qui converted into homestays, hotels, shops and
laid out," said Rafael Gastebois, a French conservation restaurants, allowing visitors a glimpse of the resplendent
architect working on the government's 'smart city' project, to lives of the noblemen of a different era. Wide, European-
help balance progress and better facilities for residents and style roads and canopied avenues allow tourists a respite
tourists with heritage conservation 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