Almost every month, there is an import fair or a festival in Pondicherry. Some
are religious in nature, others cultural and spiritual and still others, purely
gourmet! Some of the main fairs and festivals are :
January
Organized by the Development of tourism, Pondicherry, every year during January
4th - 7 th, this festival attracts yoga enthusiasts, both novices and experts,
from all over the world.
Pongal Festival This festival of Tamilnadu, is also celebrated with great
enthusiasm in Pondicherry. It is celebrated as a thanksgiving after the harvest
season.
March: Masimagam Festival
Celebrating during the full moon around mid - March, deities of sixty-four temples
from in and around Pondicherry are brought to the beach for a sanctimonious
sea bath. Thousands come to witness and participate in this festival.
May: Villianur Temple car Festival
Around the middle of May, the exact date depending on the appearance of the
full mon, the decorated car of the thirukamemswarara kukilambal temple is taken
out in a procession to pulled by hundreds of devotees.
July: Bastille Day
On July 14, the bastille day, Pondicherry witnesses and indo - French pageantry.
Dolling their uniforms, war Veterans march through the streets singing Marseillaise.
More interestingly, the French flag can be seen flying along side the Indian
flag on many Housetops.
August: French Food festival
Gourmet, a food festival to celebrate the great French cuisine is organized
by Tourism department every August. Virampattinam Car Festival This is the grand
car festival of Pondicherry when the decorated temple car is pulled in a procession,
with the Lieutenant governor participating in the ritual.
Birth Anniversary of Sri Aurobindo
August 15, the birth anniversary of Sri Aurobindo, is a holy day in Sir Aurobindo
Ashram. On this day, thousands of people from all over the world come to the
ashram to pay their homage to the great sage, poet and philosopher of the twentieth
century and also visit his personnel quarters.
