Art of Living Founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar described the ‘floating stage’, which had no foundation, as a miracle.
But for the audience, who trudged their way to the festival, catching a glimpse of the action actually required a miracle.
The stage spread over seven acres was designed in such a way that the visitors could not see any of the performances.
In fact, they had to rely entirely on the giant screens installed at the venue.
“The stage obviously has been built keeping in mind the television audience as even people sitting in the first few enclosures could not catch a glimpse,” said Rijul Aggarwal, who had come from Rajasthan to attend the festival.
For a festival that was such a cultural extravaganza and saw such diversity when it came to performing arts, it was a pity that the audience could not see anything, Rijul added.
Shabnam, who had come here with her children, said that she enjoyed the group meditation led by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
But, she also complained that but she could not see any of the dances. “I had seen the first two days of the festival on television. I was mesmerised by the colours, but at the venue it is very different. You have to rely on the big screen to see what is happening,” she said.
Nidhi Gupta, another visitor here, commented that while it was nice to see so many people coming together for the event, the venue was designed in a way that the sea of humanity became a spectacle for the VIPs, who were perched on top of the stage. “It is a pity because there are many people in the audience who have never seen a dance recital or a live tango performance. Today, they had an opportunity to do so, but the sheer scale of the festival took away that opportunity,” said Ms. Gupta.
It was designed
in a way that the visitors could not see any of the performances
