Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Pondicherry

Go for the glass. The rare stained panels inside this minor basilica on Pondicherry's south boulevard depict events from the life of Christ and from the lives of the saints, and they are the reason to step in rather than photograph the front and move on. The building is an oriental reading of Gothic Revival, which is worth taking on its own terms rather than measuring against European churches. In recent years it has become one of the better-known Christian pilgrimage places here, so it is not a quiet building at the times you would expect.