DUTCH PLANNED & FRENCH EXECUTED

BUT WE SPOILED PONDICHERRY’S URBAN DEVELOPMENT

N.Nandhivarman

If you go to Old Delhi you will be shocked by its irregular street pattern but in New Delhi you will appreciate the concept of planned city. In old Pondicherry you can see straight roads but in the suburban areas in post independence era all that symmetry of streets is lost. How could such a legacy be thrown to winds? There is a saying in Pondicherry. In Tamil they say “Veethi Azhagu undu, Neethi Azhagu illai”. Veethi Azhagu means beauty of the streets. Who were the people who laid down the blueprint for straight streets in Pondicherry? Some may think it is local people. Some believe it is French. “ No, it is the work of the Dutch, “ says Jean Deloche, Historian based at the Ecole Francaise d”Extreme Orient at Pondicherry.

“ Some Indian scholars consider that the town was built according to the principles of the ancient Hindu treatises or architecture, particularly the Shilpa Sastra. French historians, on the other hand, feel that the plan should be considered as an achievement of French mind. In fact, the Dutch plans of Pondicherry preserved at the National Archives at The Hague show that the orthogonal street pattern of the town is a creation of the Dutch. The plans of 1693 show that, in Francois Martin’s time, the streets or lanes were following an irregular pattern, without any shape or symmetry, whereas in the plans drafted in 1694, during the Dutch occupation, one finds the design of a large new town, with a very regular geometric lay out, rectangular blocks of houses, separated by straight streets, intersecting at right angles. This great urban project of the Dutch company was adopted by the French who systematically carried out the extensive straightening out of streets into a planned grid, during the first half of the 18 th century” This is how Jean Deloche summarizes the contents of his book published in 2004 with 11 figures and 6 plates. “ Origins of the Urban Development of Pondicherry according to 17 th Century Dutch Plans” is a masterpiece placing truth in its right place. People must appreciate the French Institution here and the French author who did not falter in placing truth above all.

How did Pondicherry look like in 1700 A.D. “ Like an active hive developing its honeycomb, the town extended in a grid pattern along the left bank of the coastal river Uppar, to the north west of its citadel which was still no more than a small rectangular fort, Fort Barlong” This is how Professor M.Bourdart of the Lysee Francaise narrates in his book “18 th century Pondicherry “published in 1992. There is another map engraved as “ Map of Pondicherry” published by Nicholas de Fer in Paris in the year 1705. There is another plan of Pondicherry of 1741, which depicts Pondicherry, a year before the arrival of Dupliex. “ On this excellent plan are already shown the principal monuments of the town which was riveted to the Indian soil by the star shaped bolt of its fort, Fort Louis. The town’s appearance was to alter but little with time, at least as regards its outer contours. The fortifications would be leveled and would give place to the boulevards that today encircle the town.”

Well there are other evidences of that hoary past. One is the watercolor map of 1750 and the other is drawing of. Le Gentil who authored “Voyage dans les mers de l’inde, and visited Pondicherry twice in 1761 and 1769.

The Dutch evidences had thrown more light on the History of Pondicherry’s Urban Development. The Plan of the fortress and town “Poedechery” as it is currently being built on 20 th November 1694, available with Dutch Museum not only gives authentic version of the scene of those days but also spells Pudhucherri, the correct Tamil name instead of the corrupted version of Pondicherry.

In his book “City Planning and Architecture in Pondicherry “ P.Pichard thinks that the French adapted “their plan to the natural conditions of the littoral. This was possible because of the straight coast line was a very strong feature of the site and has from the beginning, determined the general orientation of the buildings and the direction of the streets, behind the dune, the low marshy lands and their outlet, running parallel to the seashore, increased this trend.”

Ron van Oers is of the opinion that Dutch colonial settlements were built on a “Strict geometrical design to subdivide the usable area into building plots. All had a common image of being neat and well organized.” On the orthogonal street model applied in Pondicherry he says Dutch preferred this pattern since” it was symbolic of an ordered, well managed society, hierarchical but democratic, it was emblematic for the hard working god fearing Dutch Calvinists”

“French appropriated this great design and that the extensive straightening out of the streets into a planned grid, systematically carried out by their governors in the first half of the 18 th century, was therefore the extension of the existing Dutch orthogonal pattern into the rest of the town.”  Says Historian Jean Deloche who lives in Pondicherry  A great scholar who loves Tamil lives here unknown to fellow Tamils and he humbly refuses to get photographed because he wants his works to speak for ages to come. The billion  dollar question is “If French could appropriate whatever good plans of the Dutch and beautify Pondicherry, who misled and buried such a planned legacy in the post independence era while sub urban colonies mushroomed here?” Let soul search begin.

     1700jpg: Pondicherry in the year 1700

     1705jpg : Map of Pondicherry by Nicholas de Fer in Paris (1705)