Pondicherry is a beautiful UT near Tamilnadu. This review by no means claims to be complete encyclopedia on Pondicherry. But, it discovers Pondy for the young crowd. All those various aspects of Pondy that are hidden... which are not mentioned and accessible on net.
For History, Civics, Geography of Pondy , please see:-
https://pondicherry.nic.in/open/regions/pondy/lottosee.htm
https://pondy.com/pondy/siteindex.htm
As Far as my experience goes, its as follows:-
We are a group of 6 students, who went to Chennai for science exhibition. From there Pondy is quite near (around 120 km), so we didn’t want to miss the opportunity. We took an A/C Qualis and started the journey. One can also get bikes on rent in Pondy for a meager Rs 200/day. You just need to deposit your Driving License/Passport. Best part about Chennai is liquor is damn cheap... so buy the whole crate of liquor and get sloshed. But, DON’T DRINK & DRIVE PLS.
Drive to Pondy from Chennai on East Coast Road is a beautiful experience. It reminds me of Bombay-Pune express highway trip. We stopped at many places to click snaps with beautiful mother nature. Thus, its advisable to take a private vehicle to Pondy instead of Bus/Train. MY SUGGESTION, REACH CHENNAI...FROM THERE TAKE A CAB/SUMO/QUALIS. ALSO NEVER TO PONDY ON SUNDAY’S AS Aurobindo Society trip and AUROVILLE IS CLOSED ON SUNDAY.
Entire Pondy in 3 km long and 1.5 km wide. Lodging in Pondy is quite Cheap.
1> You can stay there in ’’New Guest house’’ of Aurobindo Ashram for Rs 100/ day for a room. But, no booze, in time restricted. Its good for families.
2> For whacko like us, Govt guest house is good. With Rs 200/day per room. No time restrictions. GET MOSQUITO COIL/MAT, LOTS OF Mosquito’s THERE.
There are 3 main temples and 2-3 churches in Pondy. But, due to lack of time...we didnt see them. Aurobindo Ashram is also quite hyped up place, so we went there. But, there is nothing to see.. except Samadhi of Sri Aurobindo. With all due respects to him and with no intentions to hurt anyone’s religious feelings...but we were all disappointed.
Then I suggested to go to Auroville . Guyz were totally freaked out, and didn’t want any more Ashrams. So, I told them... there are nice French colonies out there. Where they can see French architecture and beautiful gals. Gosh!!!! Trick worked. Guys, if you dunno Tamil, you are butchered... It took us tough time to locate Auroville. So, I’ll tell you how to locate it.
Go straight on ECR Road towards Chennai. After covering leaps and bounds... you’ll reach a village. There suddenly you’ll see many many cybercafe’s and ICICI ATM. Just take a left turn in that lane. Its not a pucca road, but thats the way.
In Auroville, Go to first floor and get the pass for Maitri Mandir . MAITRI MANDIR PASSES ARE AVAILABLE TILL 4:30 pm. Its not just another temple, but a place to meditate. A beautiful piece of architecture, its a huge Spherical ball with Brass Plates all over it. In the centre of Sphere, there is a crystal emitting light. You are supposed to sit around it and meditate.
https://archnet.org/shared/image-collections/collection.tcl?collection_id=6408
Nowadays, Maitri Mandir is closed for renovation.. so u can’t see it from inside Nevertheless, you can see its model in Auroville. Also, even if you don’t get pass.. you can anyways see it from outside.
Keep, going straight from Auroville and you’ll see MAITRI MANDIR in the way. If you keep continuing on that dumpy road, after 1-2 km.. you’ll see French Colonies. DON’T LOOK AT THE PEOPLE OUT THERE AS IF THEY ARE AN ANIMAL IN A ZOO. Try to respect them , as they are guests to our nation and many of them have become even Indian citizens by now. India is known for hospitality, please don’t tarnish image of Motherland.
In the evening, best place to go is Hotel Mass . There you get good Indian North Indian flavored food. Rates are quite reasonable, Rs 70 a veg dish. From 10:30 pm to 12 midnight, you can also enjoy CABARET out there. Entry charges 250/- per person.
Chunnabar is known for its water sports, You can enjoy boating there. Veerampattinam beach is the best beach in Pondicherry. But, you have to go there via boat from Chunnabar water resort, Charges Rs 50/- per person. Uffffff! Don’t worry... there is a catch to it also.
On your way to Chunnabar, you’ll see a Police Station on your left. Just before that is a lane, keep going inside that.. you’ll cross the village and reach Veerampattinam. Its the cleanest beach, I have ever seen in my life. You will also see BACK WATERS surrounded by Palm trees nearby. You can hardly see, Sweet and Salty water at same place...anywhere else.
Entire Trip, Chennai - Pondy - Chennai in A/c Qualis for 2 days, 1 Night including messing , lodging and lots of liquor won’t cost you more than Rs 1000/- to Rs 1500/- per head , if you go in a group.
Wishing you a happy and memorable journey!