Karaikal travel guide

Karaikal is one of the four regions of the Union Territory of Puducherry, but it is nothing like Puducherry's French Quarter. It is a small coastal town on the Bay of Bengal, an enclave surrounded by the Cauvery delta districts of Tamil Nadu, about 130 to 140 km south of Puducherry depending on which source you read. The French held it from 1739, apart from a British interlude between 1760 and 1817, and it joined India in 1954.

The old centre is built around a temple tank. The Karaikal Ammaiyar Temple, the Kailasanathar Temple and the Nithyakalyana Perumal Temple stand on Bharathiar Street around the Chandra Theertham, so a morning on foot can cover three temples. The Ammaiyar temple honours Punithavathi, the only woman among the 63 Nayanmar saints, and gives the town its name. The church of Our Lady of Angels and the dargah of Mastan Syed Dawood add a Catholic and a Sufi presence in the same small area.

The draw outside town is Thirunallar, about 5 km west, home of the Dharbaranyeswarar Temple and its celebrated Shani shrine. Saturdays and Saturn transit days bring heavy crowds, so most visitors do better on a weekday morning. Karaikal Beach, at the mouth of the Arasalar river, is the evening outing.

This is a place for pilgrims and for quiet travellers, not for sightseeing at speed. It suits older visitors in the dry months because most of its attractions are level and close together, but it has few attractions beyond temples and the shore, and the October to December northeast monsoon can be very wet. Many people use it as a base for Tharangambadi, Nagore and Velankanni on the same coast.