Pondicherry District

Pondicherry - French Influence

Pondicherry - French Influence

A remarkable degree of French influence in Puducherry exists to this date. Puducherry was designed based on the French grid pattern and features neat sectors and perpendicular streets. The entire town is divided into 2 sections, the French quarter ( Ville Blanche ) and the Indian quarter ( Ville Noire ). Many streets still retain their French names and French style villas are a common sight in Puducherry. In the French quarter, the buildings are typically colonial style with long compounds and stately walls.

The Indian (Tamil) quarter consists of houses lined with verandas, and houses with large doors and grills. These French and Indian style houses are identified and its architecture is preserved from destruction by a organization named INTACH. If ever anyone wishes to demolish the existing house in the town area and rebuild, they need the permission from this organization and the new built house should resemble the same architectural beauty it possessed before destruction.The use of French language can be still seen in Pondicherry.

Puducherry still has a large number of Tamil and a small number of non Tamil residents with French passports, whose ancestors were in French Governmental service and who chose to remain French at the time of Independence. Apart from the monuments pertaining to the French period, there is the French Consulate in Puducherry and several cultural organisations. Another important one is 'Le Foyer du Soldat'. It is a Legion hall for soldiers who served in the different French wars.

Of the cultural organisations the French Institute of Pondicherry, the Pondicherry Centre of the École française d'Extrême-Orient and a branch of the Alliance Française are noteworthy. A French-medium school system, the Lycée Français de Pondichéry, continues to operate under the aegis of the French Minister of National Education (France).

Pondicherry - French Influence

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