Puducherry is known as the mystic city and it has a cosmopolitan setting. French influences are still afresh in the atmosphere of Pondicherry. It is even described as the Window of French culture. It is an enigmatic city, which has earned fame for its colonial structures and serene ambience. The well-planned town, neatly laid roads, beautiful esplanades architecturally imposing churches and public buildings and the statues of Joan of Ark and Joseph Francois attracts anyone and every one. The churches and the beaches are main tourist attractions in Pondicherry. Once you reach there you will never feel like returning. The beauty of the place enthralls you and you will feel as if you are one with the nature. Such is the magnificence of the place. There are many credits for Puducherry. Puducherry is known as the IT Hardware Capital of India. It is even known as the Education Hub of South India.

Origin of name of Puducherry
Puducherry was formerly known as Pondicherry. It is one of the Union Territories of India. Earlier Puducherry was a French colony and it consisted of four non-contiguous districts. The largest out of them was named as Pondicherry. In September 2006, the territory changed its official name from Pondicherry to Puducherry, which in Tamil means "New Village". It is also known as The French Riviera of the East (La Côte d`Azur de l`Est).

History of Puducherry
In the fourth century AD Pondicherry area was part of the Pallava Kingdom of Kanchipuram. Following the next centuries Pondicherry was occupied by different dynasties of the South. In the 10th Century AD, Pondicherry was occupied by the Cholas of Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu). In the 13th century, the Cholas were replaced by the Pandyas. Later Pondicherry had to witness a series of Muslim invasions. Pondicherry, as we know now, became wide known on the arrival of the French on the 4 february 1673. 20 years after in 1643, the town became the property of the Dutch before belonging to France in 1699.François Martin who was appointed Administrator following the "traité of Ryswick", restored stability to Pondicherry and developed the town. Dumas who succeeded him, followed the principles created by François Martin.During approximatevily 250 years, Pondicherry was a quite a calm town except during the Carnatic franco-english wars lead by Duplex and Clive.

Geography of Puducherry
The territory of Puducherry encompasses an area of 480 sq km with Pondicherry town and villages covering 290 sq km. Pondicherry lies 162 km south of Madras and 22 km north of Cuddalore, Karaikal is about 150 km south of Pondicherry and Yanam about 840 km north-east of Pondicherry on the Andhra Coast. Puducherry is touched by Bay of Bengal in the East and is surrounded by four states. On the South it is surrounded by Arcot District, Karaiakl town and its villages covering an area of 161sq km which is surrounded by Tanjavur district, Mahe and its villages covering 9 sq km surrounded by the Kerala state and Yanam covering 20 sq.km within the East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh.

Mahe lies almost parallel to Pondicherry, 653 km away on the west coast. Puducherry`s average elevation is at sea level. The city is protected against the sea by a 2 km sea wall, which has a height of 27 feet above the sea level. Puducherry`s average elevation is at sea level. The town of Chidambaram in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, famous for the Chidambaram Temple, lies 58 km south of Puducherry. For the greater part of the year Pondicherry experiences a hot and humid climate. The temperatures range between 26 degree Celcius and 38 degree Celcius.

Economy of Puducherry
In Poducherry about 45% of the people depend on agriculture for their livelihood. 90% of the total area is irrigated. The predominant crop here is paddy. Pulses are also grown in large areas here. Crops like rice, coconuts, arcanuts, condiments, ragi, bajra, pulses, sugarcane, cotton, spices, groundnut and chilies are grown here. There is a well-established modern diary at Pondicherry. Fishing is an important occupation of the people here. There are about 28 sea fishing villages in the Union Territory. The main products exported in Puducherry are rice, fish, hides, skin etc. There are 23 large-scale industries and 79 medium scale industries here. There are about 5,400 small-scale industries here, which give employment opportunities to nearly 50,000 people.

Government and Politics of Puducherry
The governance and administration of the territory of Puducherry falls directly under the authority in New Delhi. Pondicherry has an elected legislative assembly and a cabinet of ministers. The government is permitted to make laws with respect to specific matters. In many cases, legislations have to require ratification from the President of India. The Centre is represented by the Lt. Governor.

Districts of Puducherry
Puducherry consists of four small districts. They are:
Pondicherry (has a total area of 293 km sq)
Karaikal (has an area of 160 km sq)
Yanam on the Bay of Bengal (30 km sq)
Mahe on the Arabian Sea (9 km sq)

The larger districts are Pondicherry and Karaikal. These two regions are enclaves of Tamil Nadu. Yanam and Mahe are enclaves of Andra Pradesh and Kerala. The towns of Puducherry were divided into French section and Tamil section. In the French Town, the roads are flanked by colonial style buildings with long compound walls and stately gates. The town was divided in a French section and Tamil section, with its respective population and architectural differences and each its own particular streetscapes. The front walls usually have vertical columns and windows are tall are usually painted cream, yellow and pink. In Tamil Towns the streets are lined by verandahs and extended porches. The colors usually painted are green, blue and brown, while the front wall have horizontal and low features.

Sports of Puducherry
The major sports of Puducherry are wrestling, weight lifting, volley ball(beach volley ball), triathlon, tennis, taekwondo, soft ball, shooting, sailing, rowing, judo, hockey, basket ball, badminton, archery , athletics, boxing, cycling, fencing, football etc.

Transport of Puducherry
Puducherry is well connected throughout the state and all over the world by means of air, rail and road. There are the presence of a network of all weather metalled roads connecting every village in the territory. Puducherry has a road length of 2552 km. By air - the nearest airport from Pondicherry is Chennai. It is situated at the distance of 162 km.

Rail: Pondicherry is connected through a meter gauge railway line with Villupuram.
Road: Pondicherry is well connected to most of the major towns of southern India by road.

Demographics of Puducherry
The total population of Puducherry as per the 2001 census is 9,73,829. Out of which males constitute 4,86,705 and the females constitute 4,87,124 of the population. Puducherry has an average literacy rate of 76% which is higher than the national average of 59.5%. The male literacy rate is 825 and the female literacy rate is 71%. The language spoken by the people of Pudicherry are Malayalam, Tamil and Telegu. There is a community of French people in Puducherry. There are the presence of a number of French institutions in Puducherry. The people here have a fascination for the French language and French culture. There are also the presence of a number of Indians from Bengal, Gujarat and Orissa.

Culture of Puducherry
The people of Pondicherry wear traditional Indian dresses. Men wear pants and shirts. Women prefer wearing saris, long skirts and blouses. People do not wear beach wear in the city as such dresses will invite unwanted attention. Nudity is banned in Puducherry. There are the presence of Christians,Hindus and Muslims in the territory. All the people of different religions live in harmony here. Puducherry has the presence of a number of temples deicated to Lord Sulramaniar and various forms of ammans viz, Muthumariammam, Angalamman, etc. The festivals celebrated here are Putha Lanthira, Mandolilthira, Koyodan Korothithra, Pandokuloththira, Mandalam vilakku, vishnutheertham, Swamikalyanam, etc. The Mahe district, which is situated near Kerala, celebrates festivals similar to Kerala like Onam, Vishu, Sri Krishna Jayanti, Vinayaga Chathurthi etc.

Education in Puducherry
Schools in Pondicherry provide a very good and serene atmosphere to students. Very good opportunities are given to students for learning different languages and computer. Pondicherry government is giving special attention for IT education to improve IT literacy. Government is very keen to provide computer and Internet access to all middle schools. Government is providing sathu unavu thittam. In this scheme they are giving milk and biscuits in the Morning, lunch in the afternoon, and milk in the evening. This scheme is to encourage students to come to schools.

Pondicherry is providing many courses in schools and universities to create a dynamic world-class education system to kindle the fire of knowledge in students. In schools and Universities they provide a program of study that involves a multiyear sequence of courses that integrates core academic knowledge with technical and occupational knowledge to different courses like commerce, education technology/special education, Economics, English, French, human rights, law, library and information science/library science, political science, Tamil, zoology, medical, distance education, engineering courses etc. the Government of Puducherry gives importance to education in all sectors. As a result Puducherry is known as the education hub of South India.

More on Puducherry
Museums Of Puducherry