Hours before India and South Africa took to Melbourne Cricket Ground to play ICC Cricket World Cup, the city concluded celebrating its third biggest cultural 'White Night 2015' this morning with a centrepiece on Indian culture.
The 12-hour long event wooed over estimated 4,50,000 people to the prime location of Central Business District (CBD) showcasing music, art, theatre, sports, design, film, fashion and performance under several themes including one named for India as 'Sita's Garden.
Sita's Garden was curated by the festival director Andrew Walsh, renowned producer Kate Ben-Tovin and Melbourne raised Bollywood star Pallavi Sharda.
The theme tapped into several aspects of Indian culture. A luminous floating lotus pond was set up on the iconic Yarra River where onlookers enjoyed Bollywood and classical forms of dances while its banks created a Little India that had Indian streetscapes.
The Indian theme was incepted for the first time in the festival's program and Walsh said Melbourne's growing Indian community prompted the idea of doing an Indian theme.
He said "the Indian diaspora which is a colourful and interesting community..Then purely by chance, with the cricket on with India playing the following day, [it] just cemented that whole idea."
Sharda said Indians were an important part and contributed significantly to the rich culture of Melbourne as well as Australia.
"It is important to recognise that," she said stressing that the city's biggest cultural event did not include the Indian theme just for the sake of it but it was all so logical to do that now.
The floating stage hosted performances ranging from Bollywood to Bharata Natyam, Bhangra to fusions that entertained all onlookers with stunning scenes of refined classical Indian dance.
"It was the first time that different elements of India were presented to the mainstream Australian audiences," Sharda said.
"It was imperative to bring classical forms of Indian dances also apart from popular Bollywood culture," she added.
An extension of the water activities into Birrarung Marr, Bollywood murals, projections, Indian street food, and a welcome to the rising sun with a sun salutation sequence, were experienced by all in one single night.
Apart from Sita's Garden, the festival ran in other eight precinct named as The Big Chill, Wonderland, 4 elements, Northern Lights, River of Gold, Tears before Dawn, The Engines and Keyframes.
The event was an effort of over 700 artists and support crews across the globe and locally including from France, Canada, Greece, Portugal, India and the United Kingdom.
