The 2015 National Games of India is set to start with a bang, with the organisers arranging an excellent visual and sound programme for the audience in the opening ceremony being held at Green field stadium Karyavattam, Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday.
The programme, which is scheduled to take place from 6.30 pm to 10.00 pm, will be inaugurated by Sri Venkaiah Naidu (Union Minister for Urban Development), who has been invited as the chief guest.
Cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar (goodwill ambassador for the 2015 National games), Union Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Indian Olympic Association president N Ramachandran, Speaker G Karthikeyan, Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan are some of the other prominent personalities, who will be attending the opening ceremony.
The inauguration will be followed by the traditional flag hoisting, and lighting of the 2015 National Games flame by legendary athletes PT Usha and Anju Bobby George, before the entertainment begins.
The evening's festivities will begin with a special theme play entitled "The War Cry", which will feature some simulated war scenes based on the true life story Kunjali Marakka, enacted by popular Malayalam actor Mohanlal.
After the theme play, a musical event entitled "Bhavarasa" featuring the likes of Mattannoor Shankarankutty and Karuna Moorthy will follow.
Kerala's traditional form of arts including Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, Kalari, Velakali will also be showcased during the second event.
The last programme of the night entitled "India Singing" will see Mohanlal's band Lalisam taking the stage along with a number of popular playback singers including Udith Narayan, Sujatha, Alka Yagnik, Karthik, MG Sreekumar and Hariharan.
Meanwhile, Kerala Sports Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan has announced that passes for the opening and closing ceremony of the 2015 National Games will be made free for the public.
"Passes will be free," Radhakrishnan was quoted as saying by the New Indian Express. "For the opening and closing ceremony, we expect around 1 lakh people in attendance at the Trivandrum International Stadium and the passes for these will be made free to involve people from all spheres in the Games."
Radhakrishnan also confirmed that the public will be issued free passes for all the "sporting events" during the 2015 National Games.
"We will also issue free passes for sporting events during the Games so as to ensure that people entering the stadiums will have a seat to watch the match," the minister added.
Where to Watch Live
The 2015 National Games Opening Ceremony is set to begin at 6.30 pm IST with live coverage in India on DD Sports, DD Malayalam, and DD National.
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