A vibrant festival of dance is conducted by the Tamilnadu Tourism Department at the venue of 'Arjuna's penance', a bass-relief sculpted on the face of two enormous adjacent rocks, in Mamallapuram every year.

Exponents of Classical dances like Bharata Natyam,Kuchipudi, Kathak, Kathakali etc. performed in an open air stage against the magnificent backdrop of the Pallava rock sculptures.

In this festival classical dance, folk dance programmes were sponsored by the Department of Art and Culture. The Department of Art and Culture organised 8 programmes in the Mamallpuram Dance Festival during the year 2009 -2010