Homage to war heroes, torchlight procession and fireworks display mark French National Day celebrations
The French Consulate organised commemorative events at the French War Memorials in Puducherry and Karaikal.
In Puducherry, Etienne Rolland-Piègue, Consul General of France in Pondicherry and Chennai, led the Bastille Day ceremonies — the first year he was doing so since taking charge as Consul General in 2024. Mr. Rolland-Piègue placed wreaths at the 'Monument aux Morts' (War Memorial) on Goubert Avenue.
District Collector A. Kulothungan represented the government of Puducherry in paying homage. The War Memorials in Puducherry and Karaikal remained open to families for an hour after the official ceremonies for private wreath-laying.
French National Day observed every year on July 14 to commemorate the storming of the Bastille Prison on July 14, 1789, a pivotal point of the French Revolution that led to the establishment of a Republic.
On Sunday, a colourful torchlight procession, headed by a music band, and featuring lanterns wrapped in colours of the national flags of France and India, marched down the Promenade Beach to mark Bastille Day eve. The symbolic night march, that began in front of the Dupleix Statue and ended near the building of the French Consulate on Goubert Avenue, was to signify the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789, a defining point in the French Revolution.
Members of the French expat community in the city, representatives of war veterans associations, youth and tourists joined the procession launched in the presence of the Consul General of France.
The event was organised under the auspices of 'Le Souvenir Francaise' (The Souvenir Français), an association founded in 1887 with a mission to honour the memory of all those who died for France, whether French or foreign, and to help maintain tombs and monuments.
The French Consulate celebrated Bastille Day both as a symbol of unity of the French people in forming a republic and its enshrined principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity, as well as a reaffirmation of a strengthening friendship based on shared values between France and India.
A reception hosted by Mr. Rolland-Piègue at the Consulate was attended by Speaker R. Selvam, Tourism Minister K. Lakshminarayanan, Deputy Speaker P. Rajavelu and officials.
The celebrations concluded with the traditional fireworks display on the seafront in front of the Consulate General of France.
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