1730 guitarist in Shillong strummed into a new world record

Oct 27: Thousands of strings of guitar strummed on Friday, while playing “Knocking on the heaven’s door”, a Bob Dylan’s master piece, to register their name into the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest guitar band at the annual Autumn festival in Shillong.

A total of 1730 guitarist assembled from all corners of North East recorded their name into the book, breaking the earlier record set by 1721 guitarist in Kansas City, U.S.

The guitarist from all age groups performed the classic number at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to kick off a month long Autumn Festival in the Meghalaya’s capital Shillong.

After 5 minutes, when all 1730 guitarists played to the same tune in the strumming session titled ‘Rhythm of Meghalaya’ Robert G. Lyngdoh, Education Minister and Chairman of Meghalaya Tourism Development Forum said, “Meghalaya has once again broken a world record with the 1,730-strong guitar ensemble, which played for a continuous five minutes in perfect rhythm”.

Earlier in the last annual Autumn Festival, a band of about 7,951 drummers in Shillong had set a new world record for the largest drum ensemble by performing for more than five minutes in perfect rhythm, eclipsing the previous record of a Hong Kong-based group.

Director General of Police, Meghalaya, B D Sawian said, “We have done it again. Shillong has again come on the international map," Sawian was nominated as one of the two 'technical judges' by the Guinness authorities.

“The video recording of the event will be sent to the Guinness officials who will verify it and issue the certificate,” said Lyngdoh.

The Guinness Book of World Records judges were not present at the Indian event, while the organisers claimed that their 1,730 participants surpassed Kansas City's 1,721 guitarists who performed Deep Purple's 'Smoke on the Water' in 2006.

Lyngdoh was elated at the feat and said that this event will help changing the image of North East which is known to the world for insurgency and negative things.

This annual Autumn Festival is aimed at promoting seven sister states including Meghalaya, which will comprised of events like fashion show, sports, kite flying, fishing regional songs and dances.

This is also a celebration for unfolding a very new image of North East globally, as it had already made its presence felt in the world with the reflection of its rich culture and heritage.