It was formed out of four territories of former French India, namely Pondichéry (now Puducherry), Karikal (Karaikal), Mahé and Yanaon (now Yanam), excluding Chandannagar (Chandernagore), and it is named after the largest district, Puducherry, which was also the capital of French India.

Historically known as Pondicherry (Pāṇṭiccēri), the territory changed its official name to Puducherry on 1 October 2006.

Puducherry has five official names, owing to its linguistic diversity, past-French heritage and the legacy of British India.

G. W. B. Huntingford suggested this might be a site about 2 miles from the modern Puducherry, which was possibly the location of Arikamedu (now part of Ariyankuppam).

Immediately after the de facto transfer, the area was renamed the 'State of Pondicherry' by the "French Establishments (Change of Name) Order, 1954" issued by the Ministry of External Affairs of India.

[18]: 37  The State of Pondicherry continued to be under the direct control of the Government of India under the aegis of the Ministry of External affairs until 31 August 1964.

[18]: 37 Until 2016, the de jure transfer day (i.e. 16 August) was a public holiday with no official celebrations taking place.

Governor of Puducherry, Kiran Bedi, made it a holiday as "De Jure Transfer Day."

Puducherry is the smallest union territory in terms of sea coastline with 30.6 km length.

The Puducherry region is made of 11 such pockets, some of which are very small and entirely surrounded by the territory of Tamil Nadu.

This unusual geography is a legacy of the colonial period with Puducherry retaining the borders of former French India.

[24] Puducherry is a union territory of India rather than a state, which implies that governance and administration fall directly under federal authority.

[25] There has been some interest by the territory's government in receiving full statehood, but budgetary issues remain a consideration.

Toute modification constitutionnelle à ce statut ne pourra intervenir, le cas échéant, qu’après consultation de la population.

The official languages of Puducherry are French,[27] Tamil, Telugu (in Yanam), Malayalam (in Mahe) and English.

[28] Distribution of languages in Union Territory of Puducherry (2011)[29] Even after the de facto transfer of the French Indian settlements in November 1954, French continued to remain as the official language according to Article XXVIII of the Traité de Cession (Treaty of Cession) of 1956.

Article XXVIII of the Treaty states: Le français restera langue officielle des Établissements aussi longtemps que les répresentants élus de la population n'auront pas pris une décision différente.

[note 1] The Chief Justice of the Madras High Court is the head of the judiciary of Puducherry.

[37] The nearest major railway station to Yanam is Kakinada (CCT) in Andhra Pradesh (33 KM).

Pondicherry is the capital city of The Union Territory of Puducherry and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in South India.

Due to its costal influence, this town offers a vast watersport events and water based tourism such as Boathouse, Kayaking, e.t.c.

[45] It is located in Nagore, a coastal town in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

The devotion has existed since the mid-sixteenth century, and is attributed to three separate miracles believed by devotees to have been worked at the site: the apparition of the Madonna and Child to a slumbering shepherd boy, the healing of a handicapped buttermilk vendor and the rescue of Portuguese sailors from a deadly sea storm.

Initially, a modest chapel was built by the Portuguese in Goa and Bombay, soon after they washed ashore safely in spite of a severe tempest.

Recently there has been a reconstruction which added a 2 km walkway along the bank of river from the estuary towards Mahé Bridge.