With a resident population that is truly multi-national and multi-ethnic, Pondicherry’s culture is a cosmopolitan one with strong ties to the indigenous culture of the region. A direct consequence of the exposure to so much diversity has been a secular attitude that is characteristic of the native of Pondicherry.
The crafts of Pondicherry are both traditional and contemporary. The former are of course those crafts that are indigenous to the area and use local materials in long-established ways. ‘Puducheri bommai’ are hand made dolls crafted from terracotta, papier-mache and plaster while ‘korai’ mats are woven from a grass found locally. The contemporary crafts of Pondicherry owe much to the ethos and philosophy of the Aurobindo Ashram. From the Ashram come such ecologically sound crafts as hand made paper, rice paper, incense sticks, candles, hand woven cotton textiles, hand embroidered and painted fabrics, crochet, macramé bags, wall hangings and mats, wooden furniture, paper lamps, perfumes, rose water, cosmetics and herbal beauty products
