Published on October 3, 2010
Delhi is all set to play host to over 6,700 athletes and delegates from 71 countries who are here for the 19th edition of the Commonwealth Games that opens at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium this evening.
With most of the tickets already sold out, the opening ceremony, scheduled from 7 p m, will start with President Pratibha Patil and Britain’s Prince Charles expected to declare the Games open in front of a packed stadium of 65,000 capacity.
The 3 hour cultural extravaganza will highlight the rhythms and ragas of India and would be performed by over 7,000 artistes including the top names from the Indian music industry including A.R.Rahman and Shankar Mahadevan.
The gala opening ceremony will also have a spiritual touch. Azaan, Vedic and Buddhist chants will be played in the background as performers, wearing costumes depicting different aspects of the pluralist character of India and present the theme song Swagatam in different Indian languages.
The highlight of the opening of the games will be an Aerostate that prop up images of leaders, important monuments and themes representing various periods in Indian history.
Sports persons who have done India proud in the global arena Vijender Kumar, Saina Nehwal , Sushil Kumar , Samresh Jung and Mary Kom will be the torch bearers.
The opening ceremony will begin with hosts of the previous edition of the Games in 2006 Australia, leading the march past followed by other countries in alphabetical order while hosts India will be last with the country’s only gold medalist in the Olympics Abhinav Bhindra being its flag bearer.
India has the largest contingent of 619 athletes, 379 men and 240 women who will compete in all the 17 disciplines.
There will be seven segments — including Rhythm of India, Swagatam, Tree of Knowledge, Yoga, Great Indian Journey and Oscar winner composer A.R. Rahman’s rendition of the CWG anthem ‘Jiyo Utho Badho Jeeto’ — in the nearly three-hour ceremony.
A song and dance show encapsulating 5,000 years of Indian culture is one of the events planned for the grand opening ceremony.
The guest panel will include International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, Commonwealth Games Federation chief Mike Fennel, New Zealand Governor General Sir Anand Satyanand, Monaco’s Prince Albert II and Presidents Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives and Marcus Stephen of Nauru.
Over 28,000 Delhi Police personnel and 195 companies of Central para-military forces have been deployed at the 41 Games-related venues for the duration of the international sporting event.
Delhi Police Commissioner Y S Dadwal said a multi-layered security arrangements are in place for the Games.
Though the opening ceremony is scheduled to start only at 7 p.m., the traffic police have advised spectators to reach the venue sufficiently in advance to reach the areas in the stadium earmarked for them. The ceremony is expected to last two to three hours.
For the first time in the history of the Games, athletes will march into the stadium during the opening segment of the ceremony after which they will be seated to enjoy the ceremony.