Botanical Garden and Aquarium is one of the exclusive sights in Puducherry. Covering an area of 22 acres, this is one of the peaceful sites in Puducherry. Though located at the heart of the city, it is one of the coolest places covered with enriched greenery. This place provides a lot of entertainment with its aquarium, dancing fountains, Jawahar Balbhavan and interpretation centre for the visitors.

History of Botanical Garden and Aquarium
Botanical Garden and Aquarium in Puducherry was established in 1826. Established by C.S. Perrotet this was developed with an intension to experiment the new agricultural crops which could be cultivated in the region. As such a number of trees were planted for experiments. With the transfer of power this place was converted into a botanical garden which has a rare collection of exotic trees. The garden has a memorial of Perottet which is located inside the premise of the botanical garden. Converted into a botanical garden in 1931 this place came under the supervision of the horticulture department of Puducherry in 1960.

Flora and Fauna of Botanical Garden and Aquarium
178 year old, this botanical garden is also known as one of the best educational centres. Surrounded by a number of botanical trees and plants this provides a lot of knowledge regarding botany. The trees have both Tamil as well as English names. While some are mainly known for its medicinal value the others attract the notice with their natural beauty. This is one of the healthy places which is full of oxygen and calm atmosphere. Along with other attractions the place is also known for the beautiful aquarium, dancing fountains and quite educative children`s park which entertain all the visitors. While the aquarium is under the state fishery department which has a collection of wide variety of fishes, it can be visited at any time with moderate entry fee.

Other attractions of Botanical Garden and Aquarium
Along with this, the garden is also decorated with some dancing fountains which are scattered in every corner of the garden that extends up to 22 acres of land. Besides this the most entertaining is the Jawahar Balbhavan and the children`s park which has a small toy train that passes through the tunnels, bridges and artificial waterfalls which are created to decorate the garden. The Bal Bhavan provides ample opportunity for the kinds to learn drawing, dance, music etc. Here children can also learn Karate that is organised in the evenings and weekends.

Thus surrounded with some exotic flowers and rare herbs and shrubs this is one of the most attractive tourist spots in Puducherry. According to the department of Agriculture the place is divided into 28 plots for the sake of convenience. Each has separate themes which are developed as forest plots. Till 2003 this garden has a minimum of 215 types of floral species which can be rarely found in any other part of Puducherry.