Art of Living's World Culture Festival began with a spectacular display of various artistic performance at a mammoth stage on the Yamuna floodplains on Friday.

Controversial cleric, Swami Omji who in the past had threatened to kill Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was recently caught on camera threatening an environmentalist with murder for his opposition to the mega event.

While organisers painted a glossy picture of the event, activists say the reality on the ground is different.

"90% of the seats were empty, the entire area was one big puddle of 'keechar', people slipping and falling, waste all around, no security anywhere," Vimlendu Jha, one of the lead campaigners who visited the venue on Friday said in a Facebook post.

Despite the harassment he also said their campaign will continue.