50 Congressmen, Senators come on Madison Square Garden stage ahead of PM Modi's arrival

Among the packed crowd of 20,000 people attending visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address at Madison Square Garden today are 50 U.S. Congressmen and Senators.

Among them were Senators Chuck Schumer and Joe Donnely, Congressmen Jim McDermott, Sandford Bishop and Congresswomen Caroline Malorie and Sheila Jackson Lee.

Others present on the stage included Danny Davis, Pete Sanchez, Joe Crawley, Jim Hymes, Cynthia Lumis and Nickie Hailey.

Tickets for the public reception were completely sold out ahead of the event, which is said to be one of the largest public address by an Indian Prime Minister overseas.

Earlier, Indians and Indian Americans put up a vibrant and splendorous cultural extravaganza in anticipation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's arrival at Madison Square Garden here this afternoon.

The venue dazzled with colourful lights and sound,leaving the audience pepped up with Bollywood chartbusters, and East-West fusion music, besides folk dances from Gujarat and Rajasthan.

The event was emceed by Miss America 2014 Nina Davaluri, who welcomed one and all to the celebration of Indian American culture. There were graphical posters of Prime Minister Modi, which showed hashtag Modi in America, with a catch phrase reading Unity, Action, Progress.

To honour and celebrate this momentous occasion, the gathering was presented with eclectic and enetertaining programmes that reflected the diversity of the Indian American community and the experiences of families that hail from the two nations.

The programme started with a wonderful Gujarati fold dance, and was followed by a colourful Dandiya. Then, in keeping with Indian folk traditions, a Marwari folk dance from Rajasthan was performed with the help of the Bollywood number 'aayore aayore maro dolna' from the Subhash Ghai produced movie "Pardes"

Popular playback singer, Kavita Krishnamurthy sung some of her old Bollywood melodies such as "I Love of My India" and a fusion version of "Vaishnava Janato". She was accompanied and assisted by her husband and violinist Dr. L. Subramaniam.

A video was also broadcast to show the thousands of images from across the world reminding one and all of the shared sacrifices so many of Indian Americans to reach their present status in live.

Cultural troupes like the Baleshwar School of Arts and Dance and the Sonali Vyas Company also presented their acts. Actor Akshay Kapoor, who hails from Pittsgrove, New Jersey, and has forayed recently into Bollywood, also put up a performance that received cheers from the audience.

The build-up to visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address at Madison Square Garden on Sunday has reached its crescendo, with Indian American residents here expressing their joy and excitement over the prospect of hearing him live.

All those queuing up at the historic venue said that they don't want to miss what they called this once in a life time opportunity.

Indian Americans have been queuing up to buy the tickets for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address at Madison Square Garden, with organizers saying that due to the tremendous demand for tickets they had to restrict almost 450 associations that became 'welcoming partners'.

In his departure statement while heading towards U.S., Prime Minister Modi had said, "I keenly await the opportunity to meet the Indian American community at the Madison Square Garden in New York. Their success in diverse fields, their contribution to the United States, their abiding bonds with India, and their role as a vibrant bridge between the two largest democracies is a source of pride for us. They serve as a window to our heritage, progress and potential."

Madison Square Garden is a historic and technologically advanced venue which can accommodate almost 20,000 people.

It is well known as the venue where Beatles' founder John Lennon played his last concert. And boxing legend Muhammad Ali fought his first match.

The historic Times Square arena would also be able to witness the Prime Minister speech live.