HYDERABAD: The festival of colours was celebrated with flowers and musk during the Qutub Shahi period refl ecting the Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb of the Deccan, particularly Hyderabad. It was a state festival alongside Basant, Bathukamma and Diwali. It was a “phoolon wali Holi” or Holi with flowers.
According to city heritage experts, all the royal palaces right from the river Musi to the Charminar and the fort city of Golconda were decorated and the kings celebrated the festivals with nobles and commoners. A Golconda painting probably of the period of Ibrahim Quli Qutub Shah IV depicted young prince Mohammad Quli playing Holi with flowers.
