Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
going on down here: if you're interested in Pondy's history and architectural heritage
also details heritage walks on its website.
PROMENADE
Seafront
(Goubert Ave)
Pondy is a seaside town, but that doesn't make it a beach destination; the city's
sand is a thin strip of dirty brown that slurps into a seawall of jagged rocks. But Goubert
Ave (Beach Rd) is a killer stroll, especially at dawn and dusk when half the town takes a
constitutional or romantic amble there. In a stroke of genius the city council has banned
traffic here from 6pm to 7.30am.
There are a few sandy beaches north and south of town, but they're not places for sun-
bathing due to crowds of men and boys, nor for swimming due to possible undertow or rip
tides.
Sri Aurobindo Ashram
(
www.sriaurobindoashram.org
;
Marine St; general visits 8am-noon & 2-6pm)
Founded in 1926 by Sri
Aurobindo and a French-born woman known as 'the Mother', this spiritual community
now has about 1200 members who work in the ashram's many departments including its
commercial sections and large education centre. Aurobindo's teachings focus on an 'integ-
ral yoga' as the path towards a 'supramental consciousness which will divinise human
nature'. Devotees work in the world, rather than retreating from it.
General visits to the main ashram building on Marine St are cursory - you just see the
flower-festooned samadhi of Aurobindo and the Mother, then the bookshop, then you
leave. People staying in ashram guesthouses have access to other areas and activities. Col-
lective meditation around the samadhi from 7.25pm to 7.50pm Monday, Tuesday, Wed-
nesday and Friday is open to all.
Ambour Salai; 6am-8pm)
has interesting exhibitions on the lives and teachings of Sri Auro-
bindo and the Mother.
ASHRAM
Puducherry Museum
MAP
MUSEUM
GOOGLE MAP
