'India has arrived': spectacular ceremony opens Commonwealth Games

At exactly two minutes past seven tonight, a huge inflatable blimp rose slowly and smoothly into the hot air above Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to the sound of hundreds of traditional drums, pipes and conch shells, and the cheers of 65,000 people.

This was the moment that 1.2bn people – there are few in India who were still unaware of the event – had been waiting for.

"Let the games begin," Pratibha Patil, the Indian president, said.

Ajai Kumar, who runs a mobile phone shop in Delhi's Punjabi Bagh, watched from a £12 seat in the upper tiers, his one-year-old son on his arm.

"It is our nation. It is our India," the 30-year-old said as he queued to get through the triple layers of security around the venue earlier. "How could I miss it?"

But for a moment, it had seemed as though India was about to miss the 19th Commonwealth Games.

Only days ago, there were question marks over security, crucial timing equipment and the apparently sub-standard £150m athletes' village. There were calls for an alternative competition to be organised elsewhere.

Indians talked of being shamed by their own leaders, and insulted by those of other countries.

But all that appeared to have been washed away in a flood of Indian national pride and celebration tonight. Though catcalls greeted Suresh Kalmadi, the chairman of the organising committee, he was cheered when he told the crowd: "India has arrived".

Even the less than charismatic prime minister, 77-year-old Manmohan Singh, was applauded.

Prince Charles had read a message from the Queen, who missed her first Commonwealth Games for 44 years but said: "When countries can compete together in sports ... it serves as an inspiration for nations to work together for peace throughout the world".

In the stadium, the ceremony was – like the entire effort India has made for the games – monumental in its scale and expense.

There was a 500-ton stage, modelled on a traditional temple, and 7,000 performers, carefully chosen to represent India's multitude of ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities. Blessings from all the major Indian faiths, and several minor ones, were projected on the side of the giant blimp in half a dozen local languages.

Then the athletes, from 71 countries, paraded, with India dressed in burgundy and gold traditional dress. So few of its young sportswomen had worn a saree before that special assistants had to be found, today's newspapers reported. The crowd's biggest cheer by far, other than that for their own athletes, was for the Pakistani contingent.

Organisers and politicians had wanted to keep the show focused on Indian culture and heritage.

The big stars of Bollywood were kept at a distance. Instead, the stage and blimp together became a vast "tree of life" to the sound of vedic and Buddhist chanting before transforming into a giant glowing neon statue of the Buddha, complete with glowing chakra inside. Then came the Great Indian Journey, a train spilling rickshaws, cattle, fishermen, hawkers, oversized sparkling bags of laundry, leering bureaucrats, weavers and brick kiln labourers across the stadium floor.

There were even construction workers – a small tribute to the hundreds of thousands from the poor states of Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, each much bigger than a large western European country, who have swarmed over worksites across the city in recent months.

With so many deep social problems, some have doubted the wisdom of spending as much as £5bn on what will be, by far, the most expensive Commonwealth Games ever. There is the competition to come and a continuing fear of terrorism or a repeat of the bridge collapse of two weeks ago.

The sloth, incompetence and nepotism of officials, exposed in recent months, remains. So, too, does the daily reality of life in what is still – despite the huge economic growth also celebrated at the ceremony – a country where very many people are very poor.

But today, few dwelt on the negative. Eventually, Indian popular film and music finally made their inevitable entrance, flanked by hundreds of Bollywood dancers, and the event's loud, brash and much-criticised anthem, Jiyo, Utho, Bado, Jeeto! (live, rise, ascend, win), composed by AR Rahman, was heard.

"Namaste and Jai Hind (long live India)," said the announcer – and then it was over.

Leaving the ceremony, Neeta Kumar, a 47-year-old policeman, could barely talk. "I love my country," he repeated, shaking his head. "We have many problems, but I love my country."

Pragya, his 14 year old daughter, will be dancing in the closing ceremony in 11 days. She smiled shyly and said: "I am very proud."