Of Sun, Sand and Exquisite Dances: The Mamallapuram Dance Festival

Close your eyes and let your imagination take you to a quaint seaside town, where waves lap gently on the shore and the sands reverberate with the rhythmic beats of prancing feet. It’s a January evening, and the stage is Mamallapuram, better known as Mahabalipuram, a charming coastal town in Tamil Nadu, where awe-inspiring monolithic structures built by the Pallavas compete with the tranquil expanse of the sea for your attention.

Inspired? Head to this ancient town for the annual Mamallapuram Dance Festival, one of the most vivacious festival celebrations in India. A tribute to the legacy of elegant Indian dance forms, the venue for the event is the World Heritage Site, popularly known as Arjuna’s Penance. Here, you will get to see the enormous bas-relief (a sculptural relief) sculpted on two massive monoliths. While the imposing sculpture, depicting the descent of the Ganges from the heavens at the request of King Bhagirath, is in itself worth a visit, the dance festival of Mamallapuram adds allure to the journey.

Photo Credit: Arian Zwegers / Flickr

What to expect

Get your mudras and eye movements right, as you follow graceful dancers performing the majestic Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi dances or enacting the romantic tales of Radha and Krishna through the delicate hand movements of the Manipuri dance form. Kathak – the dance form that was once under the patronage of the Nawabs of Avadh – competes with the stately bhangas (stance) of Odissi, while other Indian dances like Mohini Attam and the expressive Kathakali beckon you. What makes the festival even more interesting is that here you not only get to see the traditional Indian dances but also some rare folk dance forms like Karagam, Kavadi and Kokkali Attam. The brilliant confluence of international and Indian dance and Indian traditional music can be witnessed at the open-air auditorium at the dance festival in Mamallapuram.  

Photo Credit: seeveeaar / Flickr

Mamallapuram: The frugal travellers’ haven

Toss in some sea, sunshine, seafood, a bunch of sunburnt tourists and a lot of shops selling little knickknacks on the shore, and you have Mamallapuram, a year-round affordable destination and a backpacker’s dream come true. This ancient port city is just a couple of hours from Chennai and attracts hundreds of shoe-string holidaymakers throughout the four weeks of the festival. Razed to the ground in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami; Mamallapuram has bounced back with élan to once again host India’s definitive dance extravaganza. While here, you might also want to visit the Shore Temple - the earliest known stone temple in South India. The city is famous for its stone cut structures, including Krishna’s Butterball, Mahishamardini Cave and the Varaha Cave - impressive monuments that have stood the test of time. You can also learn the art of stone carving from one of the many stone carvers who sit on the main street leading to the sea.

The Mamallapuram festival will be held between January and February, 2016. So, mark your calendar and book your tickets because this is going to be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life.