September 23, 2017 Friday and Saturday
The Raintree Hotel, on St. Mary's Road in Chennai. The water feature out front!
Bay of Bengal
This is the big feature at Auroville. But regular people are not allowed in. Not going to put in the snarky comments about it.
Information and History bits:
Auroville (City of Dawn) is an experimental township in Viluppuram district mostly in the state of Tamil Nadu, India with some parts in the Union Territory of Puducherry in South India.It was founded in 1968 by Mirra Alfassa (known as "the Mother") and designed by architect Roger Anger.As stated in Alfassa's first public message in 1965,
Auroville wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realize human unity.— Mirra Alfassa
At its Annual Conference in 1964 and with Mirra Alfassa as its Executive President, the Sri Aurobindo Society in Pondicherry passed a resolution for the establishment of a city dedicated to the vision of Sri Aurobindo. Alfassa was spiritual collaborator of Sri Aurobindo, who believed that "man is a transitional being". Alfassa expected that this experimental "universal township" would contribute significantly in the "progress of humanity towards its splendid future by bringing together people of goodwill and aspiration for a better world." Alfassa also believed that such a universal township will contribute decisively to the Indian renaissance
I did not walk out to view the structure. I stayed on the bench under the Banyan tree. It was very peaceful. The tree is gorgeous.
Back to the bus and on the road to Pondicherry
Pondicherry is quiet in the heat
We were greeted at our hotel with the leis and a drink with chia seeds. It was interesting.
the other half of our room. It was so large! I could have gotten used to that room.
The promanade
Having fun. It was not advisable to climb down the rocks to the beach. We did feel some of the spray
We stopped by a local place for lunch, it was just barely okay.
Better view of the pool
The corridor to our rooms by the pool
The double door to our room. amazing
A statue to the Marquis Dupleix
Information Bit:
Dupleix left Puducherry in 1754, French recognition of his contribution came only in 1870, with the commissioning of two statues-one in Puducherry and the other in France. It is now situated in Goubert Avenue at the end of Rock Beach. It was first installed on 16 July 1870. In 1979 the statue was moved from its previous location to the current location at the beach.
Dupleix is represented as a man of commanding stature. In the large nose and massive under jaw, some resemblance may be traced to Oliver Oromwel as commonly represented in his portraits. In the statue, Dupleix wears Court dress with bag wig and long riding boots; In his right hand is a plan of Puducherry, his left reposing on the hilt of his sword.
Restoration of the Dupleix statue was undertaken by the Public Works Department (PWD) of the government of Puducherry in 2014.
History Bit: (it's long)
Dupleix was born in Landrecies, France. His father, François Dupleix, a wealthy fermier général, wished to bring him up as a merchant, and, in order to distract him from his taste for science, sent him on a voyage to India in 1715 on one of the French East India Company's vessels. He made several voyages to the Americas and India, and in 1720 was named a member of the superior council at Pondichéry. He displayed great business aptitude, and, in addition to his official duties, made large ventures on his own account, and acquired a fortune. In 1730 he was made superintendent of French affairs in Chandernagore, the town prospered under his administration and grew into great importance. In 1741, he married Jeanne Albert, widow of one of the councillors of the company; Albert was known to the Hindus as Joanna Begum and proved of great help to her husband in his negotiations with the native princes. [The page on Jeanne Albert states that she disliked local traditions so it does not seem accurate that she was of much help in negotiations with native princes]
His reputation procured him in 1742 the appointment of governor general of all French establishments in India. He succeeded Dumas as the French governor of Pondichéry. His ambition now was to acquire for France vast territories in India, and for this purpose he entered into relations with the native princes, and adopted a style of oriental splendour in his dress and surroundings. He built an army of native troops, called sepoys, who were trained as infantry men in his service also included the famous Hyder Ali of Mysore. The British took the alarm. But the danger to their settlements and power was partly averted by the bitter mutual jealousy which existed between Dupleix and Bertrand François Mahé de La Bourdonnais, French governor of the Isle of Bourbon (today's La Réunion).
Dupleix meeting the Subadar of the Deccan, Murzapha Jung
When the city of Madras capitulated to the French following the Battle of Madras in 1746, Dupleix opposed the restoration of the town to the British, thus violating the treaty signed by La Bourdonnais. He then sent an expedition against Fort St David (1747), which was defeated on its march by the Nawab of Arcot, ally of the British. Dupleix succeeded in winning over the Nawab, and again attempted the capture of Fort St David, but did not succeed. A midnight attack on Cuddalore was repulsed at a great loss to Dupleix.
In 1748 Pondicherry was besieged by the British, but in the course of the operations news arrived of the peace concluded between the French and the British at Aix-la-Chapelle. Dupleix next entered into negotiations whose object was the subjugation of southern India. He sent a large body of troops to the aid of the two claimants of the sovereignty of the Carnatic and the Deccan. The British sided with their rivals to check the designs of Dupleix.
In 1750 the Subadar of Deccan gifted the Alamparai Fort to the French. This was a token of his appreciation of the services of Dupleix and the French forces to his services. The fort was later captured by the British and destroyed.
From 1751, Dupleix tried to expand French influence in Burma by sending the envoy Sieur de Bruno, and helping militarily the Mon in their conflict with the Burmese.
The conflicts between the French and the British in India continued till 1754, when the French government, anxious to settle peace, sent a special commissioner to India with orders to supersede Dupleix and, if necessary, to arrest him. Dupleix was compelled to embark for France on 12 October 1754.
Jeanne Albert died in 1756.
Having invested his private fortune in the implementation of his public policies, Dupleix found himself ruined. The government refused to support him, and he died in obscurity and want on 10 November 1763.
I am not sure what the name of this church is. When Mark reminds me, I will tell you and give an information bit
Sausage tree.
We looked but we did not buy anything
just a fun sign
Breakfast. The usual fruit, watermelon, papaya, mango, pineapple and this time there were dates!
This hotel was wonderful
The church of the Sacred Heart
The vaulted ceiling is amazing
Making sure we are all ready to get back on the bus
Along the side of the building they had a large cage with lots of little birds inside.
These were not crap vendors. but we did not stop
Mark got this picture of the inside of a Hindu Temple. I stayed on the bus for this one.
The temple is very colorful
Ganesha. One of the few Hindu gods I recognize
Back in Pondicherry
The lighthouse
History Bit:
In nineteenth century, the only light to guide ships coming to Pondicherry was atop the Red Hills which was inadequate. The project was finally taken up during the tenure of Governor Saint Simon in 1835. Louis Guerre was the engineer of the project. The foundation stone for the lighthouse was laid at the end of 1835 and the inauguration ceremony took place in February 1836. The height of the lighthouse is 29 meters. It has a round tower and a square base. The cost of construction was 10,000 francs. The foundation has a depth of nine meters. Its light beam could be seen from a distance of 15 miles. The light source consisted of six oil lamps and two reflectors. The light source was converted to electric lamps in 1913. The power of the lamp was increased in 1931. The new lamp had a range of 26 nautical miles. It took 36 seconds for one full rotation of the beam.
It is now a fancy restaurant
Mark needs to fill me in on this one too. We did not stop here, pictures from the bus window
Informational bit
Joseph, our tour guide, took us to this shop. The chess set was gorgeous.
He stayed in the shop as well
Looking for shirts and jackets and scarves. It was fun
All the pewter and brass
This is where our time in Pondicherry came to an end. Joseph was a bit put out that no one wanted to go to the grave of Aurobindo.
Back on the bus to Chennai.
