The 12th Pondicherry Heritage Festival (PHF) that gets under way on August 18 themed ‘Celebrating the heritage of Education', will have a diverse mix of events spanning restoration projects, craft exhibitions and institutional collaborations.

Sunaina Mandeen, member of PondyCan and co-founder of People for Pondicherry’s Heritage said the theme was chosen as most residents remained oblivious to Puducherry’s long educational history.

“People are not aware of the heritage of education in Puducherry,” she said, tracing it back to the pre-Chola period, when a Sanskrit college functioned in Bahour alongside numerous other institutions that imparted education in varied forms. Bahour has, for several editions, been one of the festival’s key focus, and will again be a focal point this year, she added.

Ms. Mandeen said the festival would interpret “education” broadly. Everything that is part of this festival has an element of education, not just the standard education we are familiar with, but education in its widest sense, she said.

Ramadurai Venguattaramane, President of Alliance Française de Pondichéry said the institution remains committed to supporting such initiatives. “We don’t concentrate on teaching of the French language alone — cultural and civilisational aspects are also part of our job, and both our cultures are to be developed,” he said.

A. Arul, co-convenor of Puducherry chapter of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, said the INTACH had taken up various restoration works since the festival’s inception in 2015, aimed at preserving Puducherry’s heritage in its various forms.

Most of the heritage school buildings including the Calve College, VOC School and the Pensionnat De Jeunes Filles have been restored. With support from the Puducherry government, restoration of the Police Headquarters has begun, while the work in Lok Nivas is expected to be taken up soon, he said.

As part of the festival, the French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP) will host a special exhibition exploring the Indo-French heritage of education and knowledge exchange. In keeping with this year’s theme, the exhibition will offer visitors a glimpse into the history of Indo-French educational and intellectual encounters in Puducherry.

Through selected archival materials, photographs and other historical resources, the exhibition will highlight the institution, people and ideas that have contributed to the development of educational and scholarly exchanges between India and France, said Thamarai Selvan, Research Officer at IFP.

Kakoli Banerjee, co-founder of PPH, Ashok Panda, convenor of INTACH, T.P. Raghunath of Svarnim Puducherry, Sri Aurobindo Society, Bitasta Samantaray from PPH and Sithara Gerdes from Pondicherry Crafts Council participated.