Fusing aesthetics and cultural syncretism: the Joan of Arc Garden undergoes beautification drive

Joan of Arc garden in Puducherry, symbol of syncretic cultures, undergoing extensive beautification drive, offering spiritual experience to visitors.

The Joan of Arc garden opposite the Notre Dame des Anges (Church of Our Lady of our Angels), Puducherry, which is an integral part of the city’s heritage and a symbol of syncretic cultures, is undergoing an extensive beautification drive.

Le jardin de Jeanne d’ Arc, which is the property of the Church, and maintained by the Friends of Pondicherry Heritage, a non-profit association, is acquiring more variants of flowering plants, climbers, and tree species, sourced over the years from the Auroville Botanical Gardens.

“The design philosophy of the garden is that it offers visitors a spiritual experience. This is a place to walk slowly... to reflect, and meditate,” says Charles H. De Brantes, founder-president of the Friends of Pondicherry Heritage.

Mr. Brantes, who is based in Paris, where he also associates with the Foundation Vieilles Maisons Françaises (VMF), an organisation to preserve and promote heritage, pays a visit every year to supervise the upkeep.

A range of influences has gone into the syncretic design: the idea is partly inspired by Sri Aurobindo and The Mother; the layout styled on Mughal-era symmetrical quadrants, the statue of Joan of Arc, celebrated French war heroine and patron-saint standing on a mounted granite block as the garden’s centrepiece, and the pergola columns with overhanging vines denoting the imprint of Italian landscape architect Mariachiara Pozzana, who helped ideate and execute the garden restoration and beautification.

Beyond the corners of geometry, Mr. Brantes feels that the Persian influenced char-bagh concept also evokes a parallel to the four rivers in the Book of Genesis.

According to a plaque at the base of the statue, the property with the statue was donated to the Church by French industrialist and politician Francois Gaudart on February 14, 1920.