The Commonwealth Games has opened in Delhi with a spectacular ceremony that compensated for weeks of setbacks that threatened the 11-day event.The Prince of Wales joined India's president Pratibha Patil at the opening ceremony that welcomed many of the 60
The Commonwealth Games has opened in Delhi with a spectacular ceremony that compensated for weeks of setbacks that threatened the 11-day event.
The Prince of Wales joined India's president Pratibha Patil at the opening ceremony that welcomed many of the 6000 sportsmen and women from 71 teams across the Commonwealth.
The Indian authorities have put in place almost unprecedented levels of security for a sporting event, with around 30,000 police deployed at the 41 Games venues reinforced by thousands of troops.
An audience of almost 60,000 had to negotiate stringent airport style checks where bottles of water, food and even mosquito sprays - in a city where insect borne dengue fever has broken out - were confiscated before they were allowed to their seats to watch the ceremony.
The two and a half hour spectacular saw a $11.6 million helium filled airship - said to be world's largest - float above the crowds in the humid night air as iconic images of India's founding father Gandhi, the famous Taj Mahal mausoleum and Buddha were screened on to it as well as other pictures.
During the show 5000 years of India's cultural history were depicted in seven acts that used music, dance, and light to tell the story in the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Delhi.
Highlights from the event saw almost a thousand drummers from across the Asian country beat out a deafening rhythm and dazzling puppets from Rajasthan dance for the audience.
The New Zealand team, led by netballer Irene van Dyk, made what appeared to be an early exit from the stadium when they started heading for the wrong seats halfway round the circuit.
