For five evenings every December, an open-air stage built against the floodlit backdrop of the Sun Temple's audience hall hosts performances of Indian classical dance — Odissi, Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Manipuri, Kathak — by the country's leading dancers. The setting is unmatched, and the festival has run since 1986 under the Orissa Tourism Department.
Tickets are inexpensive and seating is unreserved on terraced lawns facing the stage. Performances typically begin around 6:30 pm and run until about 9 pm. If you are anywhere in eastern India in early December, this is one of the great experiences of the Indian cultural calendar. The smaller annual sand-art festival runs in parallel on Chandrabhaga beach.