Places to visit

Tourist attractions in Pondicherry

There are a large number of tourist spots in Pondicherry. The most important ones are Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry Museum, Botanical Garden, Promenade, Auroville, Chunnambar Boat House, Church of Sacred Heart of Jesus, Eglise de Notre Dame de la Conception Immaculee Church, Eglise de Sacre Coeur de Jesus Church, Eglise de Notre Dame des Anges, Ousteri Lake, Serenity Beach, Statue of Dupleix, Paradise Beach, Bharati Park, Ananda Ranga Pillai House, Jawahar Toy Museum, Romain Rolland Library, Kanniga Parameswari Temple, Park Monument, Anglo-French Textile Mill, Seaside Promenade, Arulmigu Manakula Vinayagar Temple, French War Memorial, French Institute of Pondicherry, Raj Niwas and Sita Cultural Center.

1) Osudu Bird Sanctuary

Osudu Lake acts as the single largest catchment of fresh water in Puducherry. The 390 hectares lake is comprised of deciduous vegetation and a variety of fauna and flora. The vegetation attracts over several species of migratory birds during summer and winter. More than forty migratory birds reside throughout the year at the lake. It has been recognized as one of the important wetlands of Asia by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

http://indiasendangered.com/ousteri-lake-becomes-tamil-nadu%E2%80%99s-15th-bird-sanctuary/

2) Kaliveli Lake

Kaliveli Lake located in the Villuppuram District of Tamil Nadu is a beautiful coastal lake which is famous for migratory birds. It is a main wintering ground for resident as well as migratory birds. Over 1,00,000 migratory birds visit the region every year. The Kaliveli Lake has an importance of its own as it is the largest wetland in Indian and also a semi-permanent water body. The banks of the lake have a large collection of flora and fauna that has great ecological significance.

https://kalivelibioregion.wordpress.com/

3) Pitchandikulam Forest, Auroville

Pitchandikulam Forest is a vibrant 70 acre evergreen forest with over 800 species of plants, a nursery, a huge collection of medicinal plants and a bio-resource education centre. The community at Auroville helps people to plant trees, use plants for healing and understand how the forest can boost the local economy. It was established as a pioneering green belt community, working to bring back the indigenous forest to the badly-eroded township site.

http://www.pitchandikulamforest.org/PF/

4) Aranya Forest and Sanctuary, Auroville

Aranya Forest is a 40 acre evergreen forest with pristine ravines, man-made water bodies and around 300 species of flora and fauna. It houses several indigenous varieties of trees and plants found in sacred groves. Aranya Forest is home to plenty of animals and birds, some of them being rare like the Indian Eagle Owl. The expertise of Aranya is in soil and water conservation using indigenous species, environmental education involving children and community based conservation and livelihoods.

http://www.auroville.org/contents/792

5) Botanical Garden, Auroville

The Auroville Botanical Garden has been established to conserve and preserve the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest. The 60 acre garden is a luxuriant landscape that serves as an area for research into environmentally sustainable approaches to land management, as well as a location for environmental education. It houses a formal garden with ornamental plant groups, a vegetable seed conservation area, an arboretum, a tropical dry evergreen forest conservation area and a plant nursery.

http://www.auroville-botanical-gardens.org/

6) Sadhana Forest

Sadhana Forest has more than 18,200 indigenous Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest trees in the 70 acres of once a severely eroded, infertile land. This has been done with the labour and love of volunteers, from every corner of our planet. The trees have an exceptionally high viability rate, because they are planted with care and attention by motivated people who understand the importance of their work.

http://sadhanaforest.org/about-us/

7) Solitude Farm

Solitude farm is an Auroville centre for permaculture and natural farming. The farm is a 6 acre plot and grows indigenous millets and rice, oil seeds, grams and pulses, a wide diversity of vegetables and 16 varieties of fruit trees. It aims at integrating permaculture and natural farming with an organic restaurant and education in the form of internships and workshops.

http://www.auroville.org/contents/2897

8) Sacred Groves

The Sacred Groves project was conceived to alleviate the problem of affordable housing in Auroville. The project is designed to be a model of ecological community living using ecologically sensitive construction methods. Over 108 new homes that are low-cost and low-maintenance have been built for newcomers, long-term volunteers and Aurovilians.

http://www.auroville.org/contents/3521

9) Earth Institute, Auroville

The Earth Institute has become one of the world’s top centres for excellence in earthen architecture. For 27 years, the Auroville Earth Institute has educated and empowered people to build their own dwellings using earthen techniques. The work of the Institute has attempted to revive traditional skills and to link ancestral and vernacular traditions of raw earth construction with the modern technology of stabilized earth.

http://www.earth-auroville.com

10) Pebble Garden, Auroville

The Pebble Garden spread across 8 acres is a vibrant indigenous forest with returning wildlife, a productive bio-diverse garden and a fledgling fruit tree area. It was created by an intensive process of soil building, using select pioneer species and today it supports a plant collection of more than 100 endangered traditional vegetables from all over India.

http://www.auroville.org/contents/2901

11) Annapurna Organic Form, Auroville

Annapurna is deeply committed to meeting Auroville’s needs by providing organic food (grains and dairy) that is sustainably produced. Annapurna serves as Auroville’s grain basket as it is the only farm where field crops like rice and millets are grown on a large scale. It is also Auroville’s largest dairy and the only certified organic dairy in South India.

http://www.auroville.org/contents/2871