The neelakurinji flower blooms again after 12 years
After a destined wait of 12 summers, the neelakurinji flowers are all set to paint parts of the Western Ghats in purple splendour, writes Nikita Puri
Of the 12 cardinal sins that are said to guarantee one a spot in the fiery halls of hell, gluttony is the one most likely to take me there. I find myself unable to resist appams fresh off the stove, served with spicy motta (egg) curry and hot cardamom tea. “Chechi [older sister], you do know we have to drive uphill,” a cousin reminds me. That makes me stop at my fifth appam.
Our agenda for the day is a visit to the rolling hills of the Era vi ku lam National Park, about 15 km from the tourist hot spot of MunnarinKerala. Then, we’d drive down the ghats for a boat ride on the Periy ar river. While the latter also gives its name to a national park that features an elephant and tiger sanctuary, Era vi ku lam is home to a species of endangered mountain goat with anexoticname: theNilgiritahr.
When we finally reach the park after over an hour’ s drive from A di mali, a small town in the foot hills of Mu nnar,t he most unexpected bit isn’ t the scenery—the views from Mun na rh ave long been described as “breathtaking”. Instead, it’s the queue that start sat the ticket counter and snakes its way out of the waiting area and extends to the end of the road, with people unmindful of the constant light drizzle. This is nothing, says the lady ahead of me .“Just wait till August ,” she says, munching on country carrots sold by enterprising hawkers on the pr owl.
“Ne el akurinj it hi rich va run nu .” The ne el akurinji is coming back.
Kurinji, known as St rob ila nth es
kunthianu, is ash rub with over 40 species in India alone. Mentioned in classical Tamil literature, the kurinji is part of the threatened ecosystem of the Sh ola grasslands. Butwhatmakesthe
ne el( blue) variety specialist hat it blooms only once in 12 years. After mass bloom sin 1994 and
2006, the neel akurinji is expected to return in all its spectacular glory this August.
“Since we’ ve had very heavy rainfall this year, I’ d say the full blooms will happen by the end of August and after ,” says B alan Madhavan, a senior fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers. The blooms are expected to lasttillOctober.
In 1994, when Mad ha van was doing a photo-documentation project for the forest department, here members the Era vi ku lam
National Park’ s green landscape transforming itself into a tourist magnet almost overnight .“It was as if someone had throw na blue carpet over the mountains ,” saysMadhavan.
While a stand alone ne el akurinji flower is pretty, it’ s the“carpeting ”( some call it “blanketing ”) feature of the plants seen en mass et hat paints a majestic sight. There was a time when every 12 years these flowers would envelop the mountains fromKodaik anal to Mu nn ar in blue. But, today, after the boom in tea and cardamom plantations, along with the urban is at ion fuel led by tourism for “honeymoon hill stations ”, much of the grass lands for these blooms is lost. But, under the protection of the Era vi ku lam NationalPark, the plants survive.
On either side of the road to Mun na rare tea plantation sand small water falls, and in the distance are green hills which routinely have their heads buried in a sea of floating clouds. You may spot the neel akurinji elsewhere in them ont a ne ecosystem of the WesternGhats, butthehighest concentration of these bloom scan now only be seen at Era vi ku lam.
Though the national park always sees a fair amount of tourists trying to catch a glimpse of the stocky Ni lg irita hr ,2006 saw lakhs more pour into seethe ne el akurinji. “We’ ve decided to limit tourists to the national park to 3,500 daily ,” an officer of the Mun na rf or est department tells me.
For the past two blooms, tourists have been trying to take the plant home. But since it can only bloom at an elevation of 1,500 metres, the need for eco-friendly regulation is paramount. The tourism department has already opened ticket bookings online ( munnarwildlife.com). One can also visit a few months later, to collect jars of fresh “kurinji honey”, which, I’m told, is especially dark after honey bees have a “feast of a lifetime”.
By then, the clock for the next bloom will start tic king again. By then, too, the landscape will dark en as the kurinji die son itself, leaving only stumps and the Ni lg iri ta hr behind. However, they will continue to be revered by the a diva si population in these parts; it is claimed that when the god Mu rug an married a tribal woman called Valli, he sported a garland of kurinj is. It’llalso always be used by locals to mark the passage of time: the wait is nearly over.
WHILE A STANDALONE NEELAKURINJI FLOWER IS PRETTY, IT’S THE ‘CARPETING’ FEATURE OF THE PLANTS SEEN EN MASSE THAT PAINTS A MAJESTIC SIGHT