The gala opening ceremony of the 19th Commonwealth Games began with the arrival of the guests of honour President Mrs.Pratibha Devisingh Patil, Prince Charles, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and a hosts of dignitaries. The extravaganza opened with the playing of the Indian national anthem.The blowing of the tradional Conch and a dazzling display of fire works set the tone for the light and sound show.The sound of drum beats reveberated at the stadium as thousands of artists played the drums from various states, which kept the spectators spell bound. Seven-year old Keshav got widespread applause as he joined the drummers to play Tabla-jugalbandi.Later, over a thousand children joined singer Hariharan in the welcome song, Swagatham. The formal part of the opening ceremony began with Australia, the hosts of the last edition of the games, marching into the stadium.The other teams followed in the alphabetical order. Host India will be the last team in the parade. Leading the Indian contingent would be India's lone Olympic gold medal winner, Abhinav Bindra.It is for the first time in the history of the game, athletes are marching into the stadium during opening segment of the ceremony and they will watch the events unfold.