Images are projected onto a kind of airship during the opening ceremony for the 19th Commonwealth Games at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in New Delhi, India, on Sunday. (Anja Niedringhaus/Associated Press)The Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, launched Sunday in grand style with elements that moved from ancient to modern-day.
An enthusiastic crowd of 60,000 in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi greeted hundreds of performers who opened the ceremonies with Tibetan horns, one of the oldest musical trumpets in the world with origins dating back to 1500 B.C.
Audience members included Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, Indian President Pratiba Devisingh Patil and Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee.
The event was livestreamed on CBC Sports.ca.
As dozens and dozens of horns blared, a massive helium airship began to grow and float up and the audience counted down from 10 to one, at which point the rim of the stadium erupted in torch-like fireworks.
Then hundreds of drummers from all over India hit their instruments as giant puppets danced and floated above them.
The drummers included a seven-year-old musical prodigy pounding on his drums by hand. The driving beat went on for more than 10 minutes as yellow and orange lights pulsed to it.
Singer Hariharan, who pioneered the fusion of traditional Indian music with modern stylings, performed Swagatam as schoolchildren, wearing red, white or green formed the flag of India.
The children painted a white cloth above their heads, which became Mehndi hands. Mehndi, sometimes referred to as henna tattooing, is a traditional ornate hand-painted decoration that is temporary.
As music played on, the athlete delegations walked into the stadium, first led by Australia, which hosted the last Games in 2006.
Performers entertain a crowd of 60,000 with a classical Indian dance at the opening of the Delhi Games. (Anja Niedringhaus/Associated Press)
More than 100 people from the Canadian delegation of 400 were led in by flag-bearer Ken Pereira, whose family hails from India. The Torontonian is a field hockey player.
After the athletes parade and official opening remarks, a cascade of dancers in classical Indian dance costumes infiltrated the grounds and performed "The Tree of Knowledge" segment, featuring India's guru shishya tradition with folk dancers and musicians.
That was followed by performers in gold lamé body suits doing yoga moves, eventually grouping around a luminous, electrical image of Buddha with coloured discs going from tailbone to its head to represent the different chakras.
In contrast to the tranquility of the yoga piece, the next section was a busy showcase of how the majority of Indians live — with a cavalcade of village-like scenes in which people carried fruit on their heads, rode bikes, danced in circles and carried pots or bricks around.
The grand finale included a rock 'n' roll piece by AR Rahman, who captured two Oscars for his compositions for the hit film Slumdog Millionaire. Rahman sang Let's Go,a piece that recalled a kind of stadium rock with modern and traditional dancers nodding to the beat.
He finished with his rousing Slumdog tune, Jai Ho. Rahman ended the song with the proclamation: "Let's go India!"
Seventy-one countries fielding about 7,000 athletes are participating in the Delhi Games, which end on Oct. 14.
Two of hundreds of drummers perform in the early part of the show. (Anja Niedringhaus/Associated Press)
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