The queen of Indian cinema Aishwarya Rai Bachchan yesterday was the cynosure of eyes at the World Kannada Sammelan. The event, which was to facilitate Kannadigas from across the world, was held in Belgaum.

The global diva arrived at 6.30 pm, in traditional avatar wearing a sari. And sources revealed that, she had to wait for nearly two and half hours to give a short and sweet speech addressing the 70000 plus crowd.

Waving her hand at the crowd Aishwarya sat in between Karnataka chief minister Dr BS Yediyurappa and Prabakar Kore the key man of Belgaum district.

Addressing the mammoth crowd Aishwarya surprisingly began her speech in Kannada, which impressed one and all. Thanking the chief minister and other organisers for inviting her, she said, “I am happy to be here. I salute the people of Karnataka for giving me this opportunity to come here.” Later switching to Hindi Aishwarya said, “Kitya pyar aur sanman diya, ye kabhi nahi bhoolungi.”

After the event the actress also attended the dinner hosted by Prabhakar Kore.