Tuesday, September 04, 2012

Time Dilation Down South

A uniquely fused culture and legacy makes Pondicherry a place where time seems to come to a standstill, or better yet, rendered irrelevant

Pondicherry (now rechristened Puducherry) may appear to be a quaint place, but many worlds thrive inside this town at the southern frontier of India. An amalgamation of architectures, heritage that is unique and a ‘hub’ for the real art of living – yoga; all this makes Pondicherry a must see on any visitor’s itinerary. It would not be wrong to call Pondicherry the place where time stops, or at least dilates anyway. Its laid-back streets and people, the lovely beaches stretching endlessly against the backdrop of heritage architecture and a spiritual overtone make it the perfect ‘getaway’.

In Pondicherry you can lose yourself and suspend the ‘rush’ of life as you soak in the unmistakably ‘French’ vibe leftover by the occupiers of this maritime territory who ruled for almost three centuries. Pondy, as the place is referred to affectionately by the locals, has a history that stretches back thousands of years. In the early years (about the 1st century) it was a trade route for Roman merchants, followed by the Arabs but it was the Europeans, beginning with the Portuguese in late 15th century who saw the strategic significance of this town. The French followed, and even the Dutch and their periods of rule over the territory developed it, and briefly even the British Empire took over. It finally integrated into India (as a Union Territory) in 1954 when the French relinquished control, but they had left behind a rarely seen fusion in architecture and culture. Pondicherry has two distinct quarters – the French and the Tamil ones. And it has gorgeous beaches – those that seem to spread endlessly; any place having beaches named ‘paradise’ and ‘serenity’ has to be good, and once you have visited them you’ll know why.

Once you are done admiring the tree lined boulevards and the beaches, and the French War memorial, the 19th century lighthouse and The Church of Our Lady of the Angels on Dumas street it’s time to turn the spiritual button on because no trip to Pondicherry is complete without a visit to the Aurobindo Ashram or Auroville – a community that was conceived as a utopian paradise by the Mother, the spiritual successor of Sri Aurobindo and designed by the French architect Roger Anger. People live there in ‘communes’ and sustain themselves through handicrafts, agriculture and developmental projects. The ideal of living in the communes is that ‘one must be a willing servitor of the Divine Consciousness’ and that’s how it has been for the past four decades at this institution conceived as ‘a symbol of the Divine’s answer to man’s inspiration for perfection’. Given its strong pull as a yoga hub, which houses two of the world’s leading yoga institutions – the Aurobindo Ashram and the ‘International Center for Yoga Education and Research’ (also known as Ananda Ashram), Pondicherry plays host to the International Yoga festival every January, when yoga practitioners from around the world descend here.


Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,