Why Foreign Tourists Love Puducherry's Famous Cycle Rickshaws

Puducherry, a Union Territory in India, offers an enriching experience for visitors with its beaches, landmarks, towns and a serene ambience. As per Local 18 Tamil, one of the other attractions that is famous in Puducherry is the French Quarter or White Town area. Tourists arrive here to witness the French buildings, streets and also the cycle rickshaws.

These rickshaws used to be extremely popular among the locals at a certain point in time but as of now, they are not used by the natives. These rickshaws, however, have found abundant popularity amongst the foreigners who arrive in Puducherry. These cycle rickshaws are specially lined up outside the Arulmigu Manakula Vinayagar Devasthanam and Sri Aurobindo Ashram.

Some of the history enthusiasts from the White Town area reminisce on some anecdotes related to these cycle rickshaws. They recalled how in the past, many cycle rickshaws used to operate on the road. Only rich people with foreign citizenship were able to afford these. They used to commute via this mode of transportation and listen to the songs as well playing in it. During the travel, the rickshaw driver would also have a word with the people he knew. In today’s fast-paced world, people have no time for these things and thus are not able to enjoy the cycle rickshaw rides. The cycle rickshaw rides can be enjoyed only if someone is patient enough to relish every moment spent on this transportation.

There are a lot of tourist attractions in the White Town area like the magnificent monuments, temples, churches, etc. It is advised that the tourists should use the cycle rickshaws to see these architectural marvels as the pullers take their own time to go through these places. In this way, the tourists would also get much time to know every detail about these places.

Many social activists believe that the government should protect these cycle rickshaws via financial assistance like they have done to protect the heritage buildings in the city. The activists have also raised the demand that the government should take adequate steps to improve the livelihood of cycle rickshaw pullers as well.