About fifteen years ago, the Kennedy Center initiated a developmental plan designed to look outward and present the arts from places in the world that did not have any real presence on its stages. The Center began with a program called African Odyssey, a four-year initiative starting in 1997. Another four-year initiative examining Latin American arts followed and, for the past three years, the Kennedy Center turned its gaze eastward to Asia, staging events celebrating China, Japan and the Arab world. The next four-year plan will be announced next week, but this latest cycle concludes with a highly-anticipated three-week extravaganza featuring over 500 artists from the world’s largest democracy — India.

“India was sort of the jewel in the crown, in lots of ways,” said Alicia Adams, curator of these festivals. “It was the end of the silk road and when you look at all that India has to offer, it certainly warrants the title that we gave it, which is maximum INDIA.”