In pics | And that’s how Art of Living’s World Culture Festival ended

The three-day World Culture Festival, organised on the Yamuna floodplains by the Art of Living foundation, ended on Monday in spite of intermittent rains soaking the national capital.

The three-day World Culture Festival, organised on the Yamuna floodplains by the Art of Living foundation, ended on Monday in spite of intermittent rains soaking the national capital.

Dancers and entertainers begin rehearsals for the opening of the World Culture Festival (Ravi Choudhary/HT Photo)

Thousands of people and artists from across the world thronged the festival that was dubbed as “cultural olympics” by the Art of Living founder and spiritual leader, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

The ground prepared for the World Culture Festival, held between March 11 and 13, was spread over an area of 1,000 acres. The stage alone was seven acres in area and accommodated 37,000 artists.

The event also invited the Delhi high court’s ire, which said it was an “ecological disaster”. The green tribunal, NGT, fined the organisers Rs 5 crore for damaging the ecologically sensitive Yamuna floodplains.

The National Green Tribunal has ordered AoL to pay a Rs 5 crore fine for damage caused to the environment. AoL founder, Ravi Shankar, had earlier refused to pay. (Ravi Choudhary/HT Photo)

Workers pause while putting the finishing touches to a decorative elephant. (Ravi Choudhary/HT Photo)

Artists prepare for their performance during the World culture festival. (Virendra Singh Gosain/HT Photo)

The Art of Living foundation organised the World Culture Festival, which was held on the banks of Yamuna river amid controversy. (Arvind Yadav/HT Photo)

Artists perform on the second day of the World culture festival, in New Delhi. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

The venue was water-logged after heavy rains lashed the national Capital. (Virendra Singh Gosain/HT Photo)

Artists perform a folk dance during the World culture Festival on Yamuna river banks. (Ravi Choudhary/HT Photo)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar share a few words before the PM addresses the crowd at the WCF. (Virendra Singh Gosain/HT Photo)

Japanese artists perform during the World Culture Festival. (Virendra Singh Gosain/HT Photo)

Artists during the World Culture Festival, in New Delhi. (Virendra Singh Gosain/HT Photo)

Heavy rainfall made travelling to the festival a problem, but it failed to dampen the spirits of the attendees. (Virendra Singh Gosain/HT Photo)

Artists perform during the 2nd day of World Culture Festival at Yamuna River Bank. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on stage with home minister Rajnath Singh during the second day of the festival. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

The Art of Living foundation had claimed in its promotional literature that 35 lakh people would come from 155 countries. (Virendra Singh Gosain/HT Photo)

On the ground, there was no trace of the raging controversy over the clearing of 1,000 acres of a no-construction ecologically-fragile floodplain for the venue. (Sonu Mehta/HT Photo)

Thousands of people, mostly Ravi Shankar’s followers, thronged the venue to attend the World Culture Festival, in New Delhi. (Virendra Singh Gosain/HT Photo)

Organisers claim that 300,000 people visited over the three days the festival was on. (Ravi Choudhary/HT Photo)

Vegetable crops appear damaged at the Art of Living’s World Culture Festival. (Raj K Raj/ HT Photo)

The festival has been mired in controversy, with environmental activists saying it has damaged the delicate ecosystem of the Yamuna. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

An estimated 3 million people were said to have visited the festival, prompting green groups to claim the event will damage the Yamuna’s fragile ecosystem. (Raj K Raj/ HT Photo)