Deccan Festival in Hyderabad
Hyderabad has a long love affair with poetry, music, pearls and good food. The Deccan Festival brings all of these together. It is a cultural festival held in Hyderabad, usually in late February. Visitors can enjoy ghazals, qawwalis, Urdu poetry, dance, crafts and Hyderabadi dishes, often against the grand backdrop of the Qutb Shahi tombs.
Our older post on this festival gave a fixed date and some claims we could not confirm. We have rewritten it with checked facts and simple words. We also explain the culture behind each part of the festival.
Table of Contents
What Is the Deccan Festival?
The Deccan Festival celebrates the art, music and food of the Deccan region. Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana, lies in the middle of this region. Guides also call it the Hyderabad Festival.
The word “Deccan” refers to the southern part of India. It comes from the word Dakshin, which means south. The Deccan Plateau is a large inland region, and Hyderabad sits on it. Over the centuries, the city was ruled by the Qutb Shahi kings and later by the Asaf Jahi Nizams. Each left a mark on its music, crafts and food.
The state tourism body organises the festival to present the city’s art and culture to visitors. It also gives local artists and craftspeople a place to perform and sell their work. In May 2026, a report by NITI Aayog on Indian tourism listed the Deccan Festival among the festivals of Telangana. The report said the state’s culture blends Telugu and Deccani traditions.
When Is the Deccan Festival Held?
Tourism guides list the festival as a five day event starting on 25 February. They often give the dates as 25 February to 1 March.
However, we could not find an official notice for the 2027 festival. The dates, venues and format can change from year to year. Please check with Telangana Tourism before you plan a trip around it.
Where Is It Held?
Guides say the main programmes take place at the Qutb Shahi tombs. These tombs stand in a garden called Ibrahim Bagh, close to Golconda Fort in Hyderabad.
The Qutb Shahi Tombs
The Qutb Shahi dynasty ruled the Golconda kingdom from the early 1500s. The tomb complex holds the graves of seven of its eight sultans. Each tomb has a dome on a square base, with pointed arches all around. This style mixes Persian and Indian designs. The domes were once covered with blue and green tiles, and only a few pieces remain today.
The tombs are part of a protected monument run by the Archaeological Survey of India. In 2014, UNESCO placed them on its “tentative list” for World Heritage status. The Telangana State Archaeology and Museums Department and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture began restoring them in 2013. Restored step wells in the complex were unveiled in March 2020.
Golconda Fort Next Door
Golconda Fort began as a small mud fort built by the Kakatiya rulers. The name is thought to come from the Telugu word Gollakonda, meaning “shepherd’s hill”. In 1518, Sultan Quli of the Qutb Shahi dynasty turned it into a strong citadel and made it his capital. Golconda grew rich as a trading centre for large diamonds from nearby mines.
What Happens at the Deccan Festival?
Ghazals
A ghazal is a short poem about love, often about the pain of being apart from a loved one. The form began in Arabic poetry and grew in Persian. It reached India in the 12th century. Today, ghazal singing is loved across South Asia, and Hyderabad has many fine ghazal singers.
Qawwalis
Qawwali is a form of Sufi devotional singing. It is usually performed at Sufi shrines, called dargahs. Its aim is to make listeners feel close to God. Singers such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and the Sabri Brothers made qawwali famous around the world.
Mushairas
A mushaira is a gathering where poets recite Urdu poems in front of an audience. The Deccan has a special link with this tradition. One story says mushairas began in the Deccan in the 14th century, under the Bahmani Sultanate. Around 1700, the poet Wali Deccani recited his poems in Delhi in the Deccani language, which inspired poets there.
Dance and Other Shows
The festival also includes dance shows and poetry readings. Well known singers, dancers and artists are invited from other parts of India.
Crafts, Pearls and Bangles
Shopping is a big part of the Deccan Festival. Guides describe a fair of pearls and bangles, along with craft stalls.
The City of Pearls
Hyderabad is known as the “City of Pearls”. It is the main pearl trading centre in India. In the village of Chandanpet, near Hyderabad, almost everyone works at drilling pearls, a skill passed down for generations.
The pearl trade grew under the Qutb Shahi kings and later the Nizams, who loved fine jewels. Pearls once came mainly from Basra in Iraq. After oil drilling polluted the Persian Gulf, the trade moved towards Hyderabad. White pearls are the most popular in traditional Hyderabad jewellery. After drilling, pearls are boiled for about four days to bleach them. Then they are dried in the sun in glass boxes and sorted by shape and size.
Bangles and Bidri Work
Hyderabad’s Laad Bazaar, near the Charminar, is famous for bangles. “Laad” means lacquer, which is used to stick sparkling stones onto bangles. The market has been running since Qutb Shahi times. It also sells pearls, saris and bidriware.
Bidriware is a metal craft from Bidar in Karnataka. Artists blacken white brass and inlay it with fine silver designs. It earned a Geographical Indication tag in 2006, which protects its name and origin.
The Food of the Deccan
Guides say the festival has a food fair with dishes from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabadi cuisine, also called Deccani cuisine, mixes Indian, Mughlai, Turkish and Arab cooking styles. It grew under the Qutb Shahi rulers and later became a royal tradition of the Nizams.
Famous dishes include:
- Hyderabadi biryani: rice and meat cooked slowly together in a sealed pot.
- Haleem: a thick stew of meat, wheat or barley and lentils, slow cooked for hours.
- Mirchi ka salan: a chilli curry often served with biryani.
- Double ka meetha: a bread pudding topped with dry fruits.
- Qubani ka meetha: a dessert made from apricots.
Telangana dishes such as sarva pindi and jonna rotte are also part of the state’s food story. For more on the city’s best known dish, see our list of top 10 Indian cuisines.
The Royal Roots of Deccani Culture
The Qutb Shahi rulers were great patrons of art and poetry. The fifth sultan, Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, founded the city of Hyderabad. He built the Charminar in 1591, and it is still the symbol of the city. Its name means “four minarets”. It was the tallest building in Hyderabad for 396 years, until 1987. Read more in our post about Charminar.
Muhammad Quli was also a poet. He wrote in Persian, Telugu and Urdu. He is seen as one of the first poets to write in Deccani Urdu. Deccani is a form of Hindustani spoken in the Deccan. It took words from Persian and from local languages like Telugu, Marathi and Kannada.
Planning a Visit
- Confirm the dates. Check Telangana Tourism’s official channels before you book, as dates can change.
- Explore the area. Golconda Fort is right next to the tombs, so plan time for both.
- Visit the old city. The Charminar and Laad Bazaar are good stops for pearls and bangles.
- Come early in the year. If you visit Hyderabad in January or early February, you can also enjoy the Numaish exhibition.
- Buy pearls with care. Shop at trusted stores and ask for a bill.
Telangana drew about 8.49 crore domestic tourists and 1.71 lakh foreign tourists in 2025.
What We Changed From the Old Post
- The old post said the festival is held every year on 25 February for five days. Tourism guides do list these dates, but we found no official notice for 2027, so we advise checking first.
- We changed “nawabi cuisines” to Hyderabadi, or Deccani, cuisine and named its key dishes.
- We removed the claim that Hyderabadi pearls are admired “by almost every woman in the country”, as it cannot be proved.
- We added the Qutb Shahi tombs, the meaning of ghazal, qawwali and mushaira, the pearl and bangle trades and tips for visitors.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the Deccan Festival held?
Tourism guides list it as starting on 25 February and lasting five days. Check with Telangana Tourism for the current year’s dates.
Where does the Deccan Festival take place?
Guides say the main venue is the Qutb Shahi tombs near Golconda Fort in Hyderabad.
What can I see at the festival?
You can enjoy ghazals, qawwalis, mushairas and dance, along with craft stalls, a pearl and bangle fair and Hyderabadi food.
Who organises the Deccan Festival?
It is organised by the state tourism body. Check Telangana Tourism’s official channels for the latest details.
Why is Hyderabad called the City of Pearls?
It is the main pearl trading centre in India, and the nearby village of Chandanpet is known for pearl drilling.