Auroville : This is an International and a Utopian city which is ten kilometers away from Pondicherry. This was founded by Mother Mirra Alfassa, the chief disciple of Sri Aurobindo. This place was designed by the French architect Roger Anger. This is the city of Dawn. The people worked hard to make this wasteland a lush green field. Today it is a jungle with criss cross paths. The city sprawls over an area of 25 Square Kilometres. One third of the population is community people and the remaining are farmers. The activities of the natives are afforestation, organic culture, educational research, health care, etc. at present there are 1500 people from nearly 30 countries. The people are from India (33%), French (18%) and Germans (15%).

Matri Mandir : This is a spiritual and a physical centre. It is a testimonial to The Mother’s vision of unity and harmony to mankind. The remarkable monument in the form of a massive golden globe is a place for quite reflection and concentration. The inner sanctuary, unlike the traditional temple, does not enshrine an image of the mother but has an abstract representation of her notion of spirituality rendered in light and glass.

Villianur : Sri Gokilambal Thirukameshwara Temple at Villianur is ten kilometers away from Pondicherry. It is noted for its fine architecture. The annual Temple car festival held on full moon day in the month of May-June attracts large number of devotees. The huge chariot is taken out during this time for procession. High officials take part in this car festival which is a grand one.

Gingee : This historical town is famous for the 700 year old fort sprawling over three hillocks. The fort is said to be built by the Kone Chiefs and remained the strong hold of the Vijayanagar Kings, Marathas, Mughals, Carnatic Nawabs, The French and The British. The fort gained popularity under Raja Desingh, the army chief of Nawab of Arcot. Within the fort there are two temples, a mosque and several interesting structures.

Tiruvannamalai (Thiruvannamalai) is a world renowned temple town in TamilNadu which is synonym to deepam(fire). Here Shiva (Arunachaleswar) is worshipped in the form of fire. This temple city is located about 180 kilometres from Chennai or when accessed from Vellore it is around 80 kilometres by road.It is believed that this temple on the foot hill of Annamalai hill came to be built around 750 A.D. period as per the details available from archeological sculptures. It is the biggest temple in India dedicated to Lord Shiva.This Shiva – Parvathi Arunachaleswarar temple has a 66 metre high gopuram that comprises of 13 storeys or tiers.Here Shiva is known as Annamalayar in the form of Lingam and Parvathi known as Apitakuchambal. This term Annamalayar is derived from the name of the hills Annamalai that means an inaccessible mountain.This sthala has been inhabited by many great saints and poets who have sung many poems on Lord Shiva.Among the many saints. SaintRamana Maharishi is believed to have lived here for about fifty years till his death in the year 1950. The Ashram of this Saint is located on the hillArunachala that is located on the western side of this town.Tiruvannamalai has many meditation and research centres attributed to siddha medicine. Reputed siddha yogis have lived here to offer their services to cure many ailments for all the sick people who came seeking for treatment. This place also proves to be a apt place for a break with good yoga centres available here in plenty.As in most hindu temples LordArunachala temple has the biggest walking path around the hill. Devotees are expected to go around the hill at least one time to reap the full benefit and the blessings of the lord. Going around the hill is also known asGirivalam or Giripradhakshana. At Tiruvannamalai it is great sanctity to go girivalam during every full moon day of a month or during the annualTiruvannamalai deepam day.

Mamallapuram : This historic sea-side resort is an open air museum displaying legacy of the Pallava architecture. It is also known for its natural beauty, vast stretch of glorious sandy beach, and delicious sea food. The world famous shore temple here is one of the oldest temples in the south and has been listed among the world heritage sites of UNESCO. The unique temple was built during the seventh century during the reign of Rajasimha. The five Rathas, Arjuna’s penance 14 caves and mandapams and sculpture museum along the beach side are found here.

Pichchavaram : The exotic and popular tourist site on the backwaters interconnected by the Vellar and Kollidam system is 16 kilometers away from Chidambaram. The unique mangrove forests sprawling over an area of 28,000 acres are quite rare and are rated among the healthiest mangrove occurrences in the world. This is a beautiful place to watch.

Chidambaram's Siva Nataraja Temple : The temple at Chidambaram was built by the Chola Dynasty in the 13th century and is dedicated to Siva as a dancer, or Siva Nataraja. Kothsu, a unique dish made with eggplant, onion and tamarind is prepared in the temple kitchens and Chidambaram is also known for special rice preparation made with black pepper and cumin. Sacred to Saivite Hindus the world over, this majestic temple complex sprawls over 40 acres and is dedicated to the Hindu god Siva. Here Siva manifests as Lord Nataraja, the Lord of Dance. Although there are many temples in South India dedicated to Siva, five among them are particularly special, as they each represent one of the five natural elements. Chidambaram represents akasha or ether. Thousands of domestic and international pilgrims visit the temple each day, worshipping wholeheartedly at the sanctum sanctorum and leaving the sanctity of the temple a changed person. The sanctum sanctorum is held up by 28 pillars (representing the 28 agamas or methodologies for the worship of Lord Siva), the roof has 21,600 golden tiles each inscribed with the sacred mantra "Namasivaya" (denoting the number of breaths a person takes in a day) and these tiles are fixed to the wooden roof with the help of 72,000 gold nails representing the number of nadis (psychic nerve currents carrying energy to various parts of the body).

Poompuhar : This ancient port town is 35 kilometers from Pondicherry. This was the major town of the Cholas. The original town lies submerged in the sea and is of great archaeological value. The excavations conducted here has revealed valuable information about the town planning, buildings, and sculptures, etc. the existence of ring wells near the sea shore which have been described in the Sangam Literature are quite interesting. Interesting sites are Sillapathikara Art Gallery, ancient Thirupallavanees-waram Temple, etc.

Tharangambadi : Tharangambadi is a town located in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is also widely known as Trankebar (or Tranquebar in Danish). It was called Alapur in a work of Tamil literature called Thevaram,written by Appar and Sundarar, and this place is regarded as a Thevara Vaipputh Thalam. Tharangambadi is famous for tourist attractions such as the Danish Fort, Danish Museum, and the village itself. It is a small, wind-blown town with a populace of fisherman. This village has been called the “Village of the Dancing Waves,” since 700 of the village fishermen were lost during a tsunami. The popular Sri Masilamaniswara Temple is sited in Tharanambadi, which carries inscriptions from the Chola period. A new temple is being constructed here due to the sea erosion of the old temple.

Karaikal : This small enclave in Tamilnadu is one of the four districts of the Union Territory. It is about 300 kilometers south of Chennai and 135 kilometers away from Pondicherry on the east coast. Karaikal is known for its rich religious heritage and is ideally suited for visitors seeking solitude, leisure and serenity. The town is also noted for its distinct French flavour. It is well connected by road and the nearest airport and railway are Tiruchirapalli and Nagore respectively. The other places to watch in Karaikal are Lord Dharbaraneswaran Temple, Thirunallar, Karaikal Ammaiyar Temple, Jadaayupureeswarar Temple, T.R.Pattinam, Masthan Saheb Durgah, Our Lady Angels Church and Karaikal Beach.

The other places around Karaikal are Nagore, Tranquebar, Velankanni, and Chidambaram. These places are all religious and historical places. These places belong to the state of Tamilnadu. Thus to sum up Pondicherry is one of the treasures to India when comes to tourists spots. It is due to the economy, the facilities and the peaceful situations people abroad select such towns and cities to visit and enjoy. Not only do people enjoy they do learn a lot about the land, the people, the culture, the languages and finally get influenced by the conditions which are suitable for them. Pondicherry is surely a boon to India. One can say that it is because of the French rule and the culture that those people made the people adapt to the foreign culture and things have become easier and finer to both the people throughout the territory as well as for the tourists.