Indian drum ensemble sets Guinness World Record

INDIA: A band of about 8,000 drummers in India's insurgency-racked northeast has set a new world record for the largest drum ensemble, a Guinness World Records' official said.

"A new Guinness World Record was created with 7,951 drummers performing for more than five minutes in perfect rhythm," Michael Whitty, the Guinness representative, announced after the event in Meghalaya's state capital Shillong.

The previous Guinness world record for the largest drum ensemble was set in February 2005 by Po Leung Kuk, a charity organisation in Hong Kong helping orphaned children, which assembled 7,727 drummers.

"We are delighted indeed to have been able to create history," M. Lansing, the vice chairman of the Meghalaya Tourism Development Forum, told AFP.

The drummers played a 20-minute synchronised tune called "Positive Vibrations" composed by a local musician, Rudy Wallang, in an open stadium packed with more than 20,000 people.

The Guinness World Record representative later handed over a certificate to the organizers of the event for the new world record.

"I am very happy to be part of history," said drummer Paul Marbaniang.

SHILLONG, Sunday, AFP