The Puducherry Museum

One of the popular Pondicherry Museums of the region is The Puducherry Museum located in the building that was formerly known as the Law Building along the Saint Louis Street in Pondicherry. The museum is a storehouse of a rare collection of items that belong to the Pallava and Chola dynasties. Open on all days of the week excepting Mondays, the museum is a repository of the rare artifacts of the region.

The museum is open on all days from 10 A.M in the morning to 5 P.M in the evening. It remains closed on all national holidays. The courtyard of the museum preserves the fossilized trunks of the age old trees. Several statues carved on stone also stand on the foyer of the museum. The ground floor exhibits the earlier means of transport used in the region of Pondicherry. Among them are the pousse-pousse that is a kind of rickshaw pulled by a steer and pushed by his assistant, a coach and a palanquin. The relics excavated from Arikamedu are exhibited in the museum. These exhibits comprise of precious stones and glass beads that belong to the prechristian age. Some of the relics excavated from Arikamedu also reveal the interaction of the people of the region with the Romans in the early centuries. Bronze statues of Gods and Goddesses are also present in the museum.

The geological section of The Puducherry Museum has a rare collection of coins, handicrafts and church relics. Furniture belonging to the French period are also present in the museum. The museum has separate sections for fossils and shells.