The first day of the two day festival saw attendance of thousands of classical music and dance connoisseurs that also included a considerable number of foreign tourists. The festival was inaugurated by Vijaysinh Mohite Patil, minister of tourism and rural development. Set against a backdrop of the replication of the Trimurti Sadashiva — the three headed Shiva, Ustad's performance was preceded by a Kuchipudi recital by Ananda Shankar Jayant.

Talking about the festival, Patil said, “The tourism department has taken several initiatives to provide opportunities for tourists to explore new places and to boost cultural art forms across the state, the Elephanta Festival being one of them. According to our study, the number of tourists visiting the state has increased considerably, especially those tourists from foreign lands and also people from other states.”

A first time visitor to India, Sheryl Usbourne from Newark, US said, “I was fascinated at the thought of attending these shows on an island right in the middle of the sea. It has provided me with a wonderful insight in to Indian art.” A tourist from Japan, Sophia Yoshimara, who is also an artist said, “I am on a weeklong tour to Mumbai and some other cities. I found the Elephanta festival unique and I loved the performances.”

Meanwhile, those residing on the island are rejoicing too — for a different reason altogether. “The festival is the only time when we get electricity throughout the day. Otherwise, on regular days we just get two hours of electricity, and that too in the evening,” said a villager Sulekha Padte.

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) provides electricity with the help of generators to the three villages on the island with population of over 1,000 for four hours after six. Bhushan Gagarani, secretary, tourism and MD, MTDC had said at a press conference earlier this month, “Provision of electricity connection is a problem as overhead cables cannot be put due to technical difficulties and undersea cables can come in the way of ship routes.”

Another resident, said, “Basic facilities are absent. The schools are not good. There is shortage of teachers. When foreign tourists come they feel bad for us because in spite of living on a world heritage site, we and even the tourists are hardly given any amenities.”