Bhubaneswar, June 27: About 500 artistes will perform at the opening ceremony of the 22nd Asian Athletics Championships on July 5 at Kalinga Stadium here.

A cultural programme, which will be held between 6pm and 8pm, will highlight Odisha's glorious past, heritage, culture and Buddhist connections.

According to sources, during the two-hour programme, athletes from 45 Asian countries will take part in the march past and oath-taking ceremony, which will be followed by a 45-minute cultural programme.

Under the guidance of Odissi exponent Aruna Mohanty, about 400 dancers will showcase the rich cultural traditions of the state. The performance will highlight the past and present of Odisha, including tales of Kalinga war, the great Ashoka's transformation from Chandashok to Dharmashok and influence of Buddhism on countries such as Thailand and Sri Lanka.

"The composition will include martial art forms of Odisha, including Chhau and Paika, apart from a special performance on the Konark temple," Mohanty said. Thousand Hand, a dance troupe from Thailand, will also perform at the event.

The inaugural event will also include cultural performances by 300 students of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS). Dancers from Zenith Dance Group and Odia choreographer Bidyadhar Barik are helping the students to get their steps right.

A major attraction of the inaugural event will be a performance by singer and composer Shankar Mahadevan. He and his troupe will sing the meet's theme song and a few Bollywood numbers. If the event will take off on a musical note, it will end with a dazzling show of fireworks.

"We will finalise the schedule of the programmes shortly. Everyone is rehearsing hard to put up a great show," said Balwant Singh, in charge of the ceremonies of the event.

India has hosted the event earlier - in New Delhi (1989) and Pune (2013). Nearly 1,000 athletes from 45 countries will take part in various events. The winners of the Asian Athletics Championships will get a direct berth in IAAF World Championships to be held in London later this year.