Commonwealth Games opening ceremony to depict India's heritage
It is going to be a dazzling Sunday!
As the curtain finally creaks up on the multi discipline Commonwealth Games, the world will get a sight of India’s vibrant culture and heritage during a detailed however closely guarded opening ceremony, highlighting dance, lights and music.
One publication did well to steal a sneak preview of the action, colours and sounds that will mesmerise over sixty thousand spectators, including the President, Prime Minister along with visiting dignitary Prince Charles at the Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.
The ceremony is going to be a three hour event featuring the rhythms and ragas of the country and performed by over seven thousand performers drawn from all across India.
"The whole ceremony is divided into seven segments. It will be a dazzling show," claimed sources part of the rehearsals, which started at the venue on September 20th.
The segments such as the Great Indian Journey, The Knowledge Tree, Rhythm of India, Rajasthan Puppets and Yoga along with Swagatam promise to bring the arena alive and make it a fascinating evening for everyone, including the millions of television viewers.
The acclaimed artistes have been preparing for the event under a high security Cantonment area, unaware of the controversies plaguing the event.
Rhythm of India is an 18-20 minute show that will take the stadium decibels to a different, outstanding range with almost one thousand drummers reaching a steady crescendo. The segment will feature typical drums from Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Kerala,
Ladakh and Karnataka.
The Great Indian Journey will last for more than half an hour on Sunday which will showcase life in the hinterlands through street circus, blacksmiths, bazaars, street vendors, milkmen and others.
The sources while commenting on this part said that, "It is an impressive show which will bring alive the life in our villages.”
The segment named Celebrations will also run for nearly thirty minutes and will convert the entire stadium into a dancing floor. Hundreds of exponents of the classical arts, ranging from the flower dancers of Ladakh from northern India to Mohiniyattam from
southern India will take part in the mega event.
The yoga, the mental and physical discipline created in India will be another item which will be performed by nearly two thousand students from a variety of colleges and schools of the capital.
Swagatam, a welcome song, will be played for almost ten minutes by a group of thousand plus students whereas 'Welcome' will be splashed on huge screens installed across the Nehru Stadium in all languages.
Another element of the opening ceremony will include the puppets from Rajasthan. The huge string puppets, made out of terracotta are 15-20 feet tall and will be dressed in shocking and vibrant colours and costumes of the desert state on Sunday. They will
be supervised by a group of trained people.
"This show will be done in such a way that spectators sitting in the top-most tier will be able to get up close with the puppets," added the sources.
The highly secretive build up to the welcome ceremony has grown the curiosity quotient among the public.
Here is a breakdown of the opening ceremony: Swagatam (The welcome song), Rhythm of India (Drums action), Great Indian Journey (exploring the country of India), Yoga (short glimpses of all yogic poses), Puppets from Rajasthan (the highlight of the ceremony),
Celebrations (showing the rich heritage and culture of India) as well as the Knowledge Tree (briefly describing the Vedas and classical music in India).
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