Did You See The Coorg Neelakurinjis? These Flowers Bloom Only Once In 12 Years | See Photos
Neelakurinji flowers are in full bloom on the hills of Mandalpatti and Kote Betta in Karnataka’s Kodagu district. A heli-taxi firm is offering a chopper ride for aerial view.
New Delhi: The hills of Mandalpatti and Kote Betta in Karnataka have turned purplish-blue these days. It’s the season of Neelakurinji, the flowers that bloom only once every 12 years, now in Kodagu or Coorg district.
Tourists are heading to the hills in the southern state to enjoy the visual treat. There is an option for aerial view also with a company offering heli-taxi services.
Neela means blue, and Kurinji is what the flower is locally called. A total of 46 varieties are available in India. 
MP PC Mohan shared images of the bloom on Twitter earlier this month.
Neelakurinji, or Strobilanthes kunthiana, is commonly found across the Western Ghats, covering Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. Kerala’s Munnar is said to have the largest concentration of them. 
In Munnar, the flowers last bloomed in 2018, after their previous blooming season in 2006.
In 2019, the flowers bloomed on Karnataka’s Bababudangiri hills in Chikkamagaluru.
“To my knowledge, it is for the first time this year that we’ve seen these flowers spread fully across both hillocks. Usually, it is only visible in some parts of these hills,” AT Poovaiah, the Madikeri Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF), was quoted as saying in a report in The Indian Express.
According to experts, the plant also has medicinal value.
Thumby Aviation Private Limited, a Bengaluru-based heli-taxi firm, is offering rides to the bloom site. Media reports said the trip from Yelahanka Air Base in Bengaluru to Kodagu district costs Rs 2,30,000.
The firm is offering the chopper ride as part of its package tour named ‘Nowhere trip to Coorg’.
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