Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry is among the big names to speak at India's Jaipur Literature Festival 2016. Getty

The world's largest free literature festival has begun in India's state of Rajasthan on Thursday 21 January. The five-day festival takes place in Jaipur every year, bringing together some of the world's most well-known writers.

This year's big names include Margaret Atwood, Stephen Fry, Ruskin Bond, Alexander McCall Smith, and even a number of Bollywood figures such as Kajol, Karan Johar, Anupam Kher and Shobaa De. Thousands of people have flown to India's 'Pink City' to take part in the festival as day one kicked off with talks from author and festival co-director William Dalrymple, 2015 Man Booker Prize winner Marlon James, and a keynote address from Canada's popular writer Margaret Atwood.

For the literature lovers who were unable to fly to India for the festival themselves, you can still stay tuned into all the talks and panel discussions through the live stream. With at least five sessions taking place at once, the live broadcast allows you to switch between the different rooms and listen in on all the talks – one up on those who are there in person and are confined to one discussion at a time.

Now in its ninth year, the 2016 Jaipur Literature Festival is expected to host more than 360 speakers and more than 100 musicians to keep the audience entertained. Days one and two will already bring together speakers from 12 different countries.

Namita Gokhale, author and co-director of the festival, said: "It's that time of year again and the 2016 edition of the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival has all the range and diversity, with the robust intellect and joyous spontaneity, that is associated with this extraordinary literary and cultural event."