Reaching
Practical way of getting to Pondicherry is either by Bus or by Train. Reaching Pondicherry is fast and easy if you prefer travelling by road. From Chennai, there are buses every 30 minutes. It will take 3 & 1/2 hours to reach Pondicherry. From Villupuram, Pondicherry is located at 40 Kms towards east. For every 15 minutes buses depart from Villupuram to Pondicherry. The train system in Pondicherry is infrequent and slow. The narrow guage track is connected from Pondicherry to Villupuram and which inturn connects it to Chennai.official Goverment Site :
http://www.pon.nic.in/
OFFICIAL LANGUAGES
The official languages of Puducherry are Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and French. The status of each language varies with respect to each district. When communicating between districts of different languages, generally English is used for convenience.
Tamil: Language used by the people in the Tamil majority districts of Puducherry and Karikal. Also the official language in neighbouring Tamil Nadu state.
French: Also the official language of Puducherry Union Territory. It was the official language of French India (1673–1954) and its official language status was preserved by the Traité de Cession signed by India and France on 28 May 1956.
French remained as the de jure official language of Puducherry U.T by the Article XXVIII of Traité de Cession which states that:
- "Le français restera langue officielle des Établissements aussi longtemps que les représentants élus de la population n'auront pas pris une décision différente" (French version)
- "The French language will remain the official language of the Establishments as long as the elected representatives of the people do not take a different decision" (English version)
Languages Spoken :
As of 1981, number of people speaking in each official languages are,
- Tamil: 89.18 % (868,461)
- Other Languages (Includes French, Telugu, English and Malayalam) : 10.82 %
Important personalities
- Sri Aurobindo -British India freedom fighter and religious reformer
- The Mother-Sri Aurobindo's close spiritual collaborator, born in Paris, France.
- Joseph François Dupleix -French Governor General (Rival of Robert Clive )
- Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau -French Governor General
- Maire de Yanaon Samatam Kistaya -Pro-French Telugu poet & the last don Coup d'État de Yanaon
- Edouard Goubert -First Chief minister of free Puducherry
- Ananda Ranga Pillai, French Indian leader dubash'
- Bharathidasan - Tamil poet and social activist, follower of Bharathiyar
- Ganapathi Thanikaimoni - Botanist and palynologist
- M. Night Shyamalan -Hollywood movies producer, Padma Shri awardee
Puducherry in literature
- Ananda Ranga Pillai (1709–1761), a dubash and famous writer.
- Puducherry was the setting for the first third of the Booker prize-winning novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel.
- Lee Langley's novel A house in Pondicherry was likewise set there.
- In Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Prince Pondicherry has Willy Wonka build him a castle made entirely of chocolate, which quickly melts.
- In the Sherlock Holmes adventure, The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the family of a murder victim resides at Pondicherry Lodge. In the adventure of The Five Orange Pips a frightening letter is postmarked from Pondicherry, India seven weeks before the death of Colonel Openshaw.
- Some Novels of M. Mukundan, Mahe former employee of French Embassy and famous Malayalam Writer.
- Mr.R.Manavazhagan, Well known Management Faculty,Bangalore
- Master Ashwath, A Star Research Attachment Scholar, Temasek Secondary School , Singapore
GOVERMENT
Chief Ministers of Puducherry
| Key: | INC Indian National Congress | DMK Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | ADMK Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam |
|---|
| # | Assembly | Name | Took Office | Left Office | Party |
| 1 | First Assembly | Edouard Goubert | 1 July 1963 | 24 August 1964 | INC |
| 2 | Second Assembly | V. Venkatasubha Reddiar | 11 September 1964 | 8 April 1967 | INC |
| 3 | Second Assembly | M. O. H. Farook | 9 April 1967 | 5 March 1968 | INC |
| 4 | Second Assembly | V. Venkatasubha Reddiar | 6 March 1968 | 17 September 1968 | INC |
| 5 | Third Assembly | M. O. H. Farook | 17 March 1969 | 2 January 1974 | INC |
| 4 | Fourth Assembly | Subramanyan Ramaswamy | 6 March 1974 | 27 March 1974 | AIADMK |
| 5 | Fifth Assembly | Subramanyan Ramaswamy | 2 July 1977 | 11 November 1978 | AIADMK |
| 6 | Sixth Assembly | M. D. R. Ramachandran | 16 January 1980 | 23 June 1983 | DMK |
| 7 | Seventh Assembly | M. O. H. Farook | 16 March 1985 | 4 March 1990 | INC |
| 8 | Eighth Assembly | M. D. R. Ramachandran | 8 March 1990 | 3 March 1991 | DMK |
| 9 | Ninth Assembly | V. Vaithilingam | 4 July 1991 | 13 May 1996 | INC |
| 10 | Tenth Assembly | R. V. Janakiraman | 26 May 1996 | 21 March 2000 | DMK |
| 11 | Tenth Assembly | P. Shanmugam | 22 March 2000 | 15 May 2001 | INC |
| 12 | Eleventh Assembly | P. Shanmugam | 24 May 2001 | 26 October 2001 | INC |
| 13 | Eleventh Assembly | N. Rangaswamy | 27 October 2001 | 12 May 2006 | INC |
| 14 | Twelfth Assembly | N. Rangaswamy | 18 May 2006 | 4 September 2008 | INC |
| 15 | Twelfth Assembly | V. Vaithilingam | 4 September 2008 | present | INC |
