Recap: Go Mad with Mukka

Go Mad With Mukka is everyone’s favourite messy – and colourful – May activity. Housed in the Hangar at Batman Royale, owners Prateek and Aditya Dhawan turned the warehouse into a celebration space for the festival of Holi.

What is Holi, I hear you ask. Well, the Indian festival traditionally celebrates colour, love and the season of spring. The Dhawans have brought the spirit of the festival to Melbourne and married it with a celebration of multicultural Australia. ‘We want to give the people of Melbourne an opportunity to really let go, to embrace solidarity, to rub gulal on complete strangers that may look different to you and overall, to embrace that we are all the same – multi-coloured,’ they said.

With no real expectations as we walked through the door, we were greeted with a very warm “Happy Holi!” and anointed with bright pink gulal on our foreheads. Strains of classical Indian instruments – the sitar and tabla – welcomed us into a large open space as we accepted a cup of house-made chai and a doughy Indian sweet, called mithai.

In the centre of the space was a brightly coloured creation, handcrafted with gulal, which was simply beautiful and a perfect snapshot for the ‘Gram. After a storytelling session about the origins of Holi, it was finally time to abandon all inhibitions and go a bit mad. It didn’t take long for any lingering shyness to disappear and soon everyone was hurling handfuls of pink, blue, green, red, purple, orange and yellow powder with wild abandon to the tune of pumping DJ beats. The air became a haze and every time you turned around the canvas that was your body was pelted with another layer of colour until you were nothing but a splodgey, speckled rainbow. It was SO MUCH FUN.

Attacking strangers with colour is hard work. We satiated our hunger with tasty samosas and a scrumptious plate of chicken biryani. Visiting Mukka to try more of the menu is definitely on my to-do list!

A few tips for next year’s festival goers: do wear white (or marle grey also works well) and blondes be wary, my hair is still sporting a very slight pinkish tinge a week later. Also try to be considerate: the moment a child threw a huge handful of green gulal directly into my eye was not a fun one. As I rinsed out my eye, it also ruined the artwork that was my face, which I happily allowed my friend to redecorate – an opportunity she undertook most gleefully!

Be sure to check it out next year for a seriously fun day out.

Go Mad With Mukka
Sunday, 5 May 2025
The Hangar at Batman Royale, 14 Gaffney Street, Coburg North
mukka.com.au