Melbourne: For the first time, an Indian theme highlighting the country's rich cultural heritage was part of the biggest cultural festival here, drawing a massive crowd of nearly half a million people. The 12-hour-long 'White Night 2015' had a centrepiece on Indian culture named 'Sita's Garden' and treated the crowd to 80 free eye-popping events which illuminated nine precincts last night and this morning. Sita's Garden, which tapped into several aspects of Indian culture, was curated by festival director Andrew Walsh and Melbourne-raised Bollywood star Pallavi Sharda. Melbourne's growing Indian community prompted the idea of doing an Indian theme, Walsh 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," he said.

The event wooed over 4,50,000 people to the prime location of Central Business District (CBD) showcasing music, art, theatre, sports, film and fashion. 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 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," she said. 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. The event was an effort of over 700 artists and support crews across the globe including from France, Canada and the UK.