Home

Back to Index

Neelakurinji flowering draws tourists to Munnar
by Juhan Samuel

       Munnar (Kerala): A large number of flower and nature lovers are flocking to Kerala's Munnar Valley only to witness how it looks decorated with rare Neelakurinji, a flower that blossoms once in 12 years. The plant is usually 30 to 60 centimetres(cm)high on the hills. It can, however, grow above 180 cm under congenial conditions. Besides offering a highly captivating sight, Neelakurinji is the only one of its kind found in the country. More importantly it is said that the Nilgris, which literally means Blue Mountains , derived their name from the purple blue flowers of Neelakurinji. Belonging to the family of Acanthaceae, Neelakurinji is botanically known as Strobilanthes kunthiana. It is a shrub that grows abundantly in the Western Ghats at an altitude of 1,800 to 2,400 meters. It is also popularly mentioned as Kurinji. The genus has around 300 species, of which at least 46 are found in the country. Plants that bloom at long intervals like Kurinji are called Plietesials.

     Tourists as well as the locals believe that it is a lifetime opportunity and everyone should take a glimpse of the rare flower, which according to them is a treasure for Kerala. "This flower is an asset of Kerala and everyone must come to watch it. At least once in their lifetime they should watch it," said Jayanth Kumar, a tourist from Trivandrum. It is a major attraction for tourists from all over the world, who are arriving here to see the rare phenomenon. "I have never seen these flowers before and they are quite unique and very impressive because they just grow every 12 years," said Claus, an Austrian tourist. For hoteliers and local traders, the flower has brought a good business with such a big rush of tourists everyday. They eagerly wait this moment as the place is thronged with 3,500 to 4000 tourists everyday. This year the tourism department expects a record seven lakh tourists arriving here to watch these flowers in the coming months. Neelakurinji has enlivened the mountains.

      In the Western Ghats, at a high altitude in the region of shoals and grasslands, the Kurinji flourishes as a gregarious shrub. From the High Ranges to the Sayadhri Mountains, different varieties of the Kurinji flourish in valleys, in slopes and in gorges. Though most of the varieties are blue, tjere are some yellow varieties too. All of them have a periodicity from eight to 12 years. After blossoming, the plant wilts. Geogaphers refer to the ranges south of the Palghat Gap as the Palni ranges and those to the north as the Nilgiris. In the Palni ranges, in Mattupatti and Gundumalai aroud Munnar, the Kurinji grows in abundance. Many residents tell once these Kurijnji used to cover the entire Nilgiris like a carpet during its flowering season. However, now plantations and dwellings occupy much of their habitat. The real threat to kurinji and several other endemic species on the Western Ghats is the destruction of their habitat and it is the habitat that needs to be protected. After the 2006 flowering, another mass flowering can be expected to take place near Munnar in 2014-- there is a group of plants in the locality whose flowering cycle is four years ahead of the rest of the community in the region. However, one cannot be sure whether these plants would survive for the next season. At Shevroys, the next flowering will be in 2016. The next massive flowering in the Nilgiris-Palanis-Munnar belt is expected only in 2018.
-Sept 17,  2006

Leading Indian News Papers

Overseas Tourist
Offices

Tourist offices
in India

Helpline