Bastille Day in Puducherry

The only place in India where a French national day is observed as a civic event, with an accredited consulate, a war memorial and a veterans' parade — a direct survival of French India rather than a themed evening.

It marks the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789. Puducherry keeps it because this was the capital of French India until the de facto transfer to India in 1954, and a French consulate and veterans' community remain.

On the evening of 13 July the consulate organises a retraite aux flambeaux, a torch and lantern procession through the French quarter. On 14 July there is a wreath-laying at the French War Memorial attended by the Consul General and the district administration, with veterans present, followed in the evening by fireworks over the promenade.

Wreath-laying at the war memorial, a torch procession the night before, and fireworks over the seafront.

None — this is a civic and commemorative occasion, not a religious one.

Puducherry was the capital of French India until 1954. The French War Memorial on Goubert Avenue was built in 1937, unveiled in April 1938 and reconstructed in 1970, and it is illuminated for 14 July each year.