Holi 2026: Hyderabad wakes to dhol beat, coloured streets and day-long celebrations

By 8 a.m. on Tuesday, the quiet lanes of Gokhale Nagar in Ramanthapur had already surrendered to colour. A band of children, faces streaked pink, yellow and green, went door to door with water guns in hand, ringing bells and calling friends out into the sun. Parents who opened their doors were promptly smeared with gulaal before the chorus of ‘Happy Holi’ echoed down the street.

On most weekdays, the road outside the neighbourhood school is a blur of uniforms, honking scooters and hurried goodbyes. This time, it was awash with colour. Children in old white clothes, chosen precisely for this annual transformation, darted across the street, clutching packets of powder in one hand and pichkaris in the other. From terraces above, mothers and fathers leaned over parapets, filming, laughing and slipping briefly into their own childhoods.