As Holi, the festival of colors, dawned on Monday, people across Hyderabad commenced the celebrations by exchanging messages of wishes in the morning and later by splashing colours on each other. This year, Holi held special significance as it coincided with the holy month of Ramadan.
The day began with the overnight flames of Holika Dahan still simmering in street corners of the city where there is a substantial presence of people hailing from North India, particularly States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, and Gujarat. Near Mahakali temple in Secunderabad and Begum Bazaar Chatri, the community celebrations took centre stage with families beginning their day by preparing traditional sweets like Gujiya and Malpua. In other parts of the city, there were bonfires without idols, followed by the revellers going out to meet friends and families with packets of colours.
“We have organised a small gathering within our colony, urging everyone to conserve water and use organic colours,” said Mahesh, a resident of Baba Nagar, Mallapur.
Simultaneously, youngsters flocked to Holi parties hosted across the city. Rithvik, an architecture student shared that he is attending the ‘Rang Barse’ event organised by Swiggy. “It’s an open-air Holi festival right here in Hyderabad,” he said.
The streets echoed with shouts of ‘Holi Hai’ as police officials maintained a strict vigil with a number of checkpoints dotting the city.
