 Though it is small in size, the former French colony of Yanam is developing big plans to attract visitors to southern India. (Above right) Several Portuguese mansions have been converted into stylish boutique hotels in Pondicherry. (Far right) A police officer in Karaikal patrols the windswept beach washed by the Bay of Bengal. |
 
by Thomas E King
Tree-lined streets named after French governors, police officers wearing red caps like their continental counterparts, stained glass churches where hymns are sung on Sundays and villas which appear as if they were transported directly from Paris are only a few of the many reminders of the nearly three centuries of French rule over four small territories in India.
Fronting the Bay of Bengal in southeast India, Pondicherry is the best known and most tourist-ready of these. However, Yanam, Karaikal and tiny Mahe – also in southern India – also welcome visitors interested in seeing yet another aspect of multicultural India.
An illustrated feature on French India can be written on assignment from 1000 to 2000 words, depending upon editorial requirements.
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