Miscellaneous

19th Century Light House

Location

The early sea-farers to Pondicherry were guided by a beacon kept burning on the Red Hills (Gorimedu), about 5 kms west of the town. The now-abandoned light house standing on the edge of the sea near the Place Du Gouvernement was lighted for the first time on 1 July, 1836. The light was placed upon a masonry tower, 29 m above sea level and was visible upto a distance of 29 kms into the sea. In 1931, the fixed light was replaced by a revolving lantern. It fell into disuse with the commissioning of the new lighthouse in 1979.

The Statue of Dupleix

Location

This is Pondicherry's tribute to Francois Dupeix whose able governorship came to an end in 1754. However, French recognition came about a century later, when, in 1870, they paid homage by commissioning two statues - one in France and the other in Pondicherry.

The 2.88 m tall structure was erected over six carved ornamental granite pillars at the Place du Republique. It now stands restationed overlooking a children's park at the southern end of the promenade, now named Goubert Avenue.

Shanti Van

Location

To the north of Rajghat is Santiban. 1st Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's last rites were performed here on 27 May 1964. A tombstone has been erected on his funeral place. Next to it, the tomb of Sanjay Gandhi who was died in a plane crash in 1980.

Jantar Mantar (Vedh Shala Observatory)

Location

Ujjain was the hub of all activities of Hindu astronomers and astrologers from ancient times, which paved the way for establishment of an observatory in the 17th century. In local phraseology this observatory is called as Jantar Mantar, which is a plagiaristic form of Yantra and Mantra.

Vedh Shala observatory lies to the southeast of the town and consists of four monuments. The first one is a 22 feet high Samrata Yantra, which was used to calculate the time. The Equinoctial days are calculated with the help of the second instrument by name Nadi Walaya Yantra. The position of stars and planets are calculated with the help of the third instrument, Dignasha Yantra. Bhitti Yantra helps to calculate the declination of the sun and the distance of the zenith.

Shalbhanjika

Location

A rare sculpture has been found at Gyaraspur.It is an exquisite stone figure of a Vrishaka (wood nymph) belonging to a period between the 8th & 9th century A.D. and kept in the archaeological museum,Gwalior.It has been brought there from Gyaraspur.