The Neelakurinji season is back in the Western Ghats. The purplish-blue flowers that bloom only once every 12 years have covered the hills in parts of Karnataka this year. The site offers a visual feast and is drawing tourists in large numbers. Neela means blue and Kurinji is the name of the flower, 46 varieties of which can be seen in India. Strobilanthes kunthiana is its scientific name.
Taking to Twitter, Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare Shobha Karandlaje posted a video of the Neelakurinji bloom in Mullayanagiri in Karnataka’s Chikmagalur.
The 30-second video clip originally shared by Instagram user @shashi_aldur captures a stunning view of a hill completely doused in purple-blue.
Exhorting people to visit Chikmagalur for “a spellbinding experience”, she wrote: “Neelakurinji, an exceptional variety of flowers, are native to the Western Ghats and blossom once every 12 years. The imposing terrains of Mullayanagiri in Chikmagalur have turned into a habitat for the purplish blue flowers.
Several other users also posted images and videos of this year’s Neelakurinji bloom as tourists are already flocking to soak in the sight.
While the flower blooms across the Western Ghats covering Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, Kerala’s Munnar is said to have the largest concentration of Neelakurinjis. The last blooming season in Munnar was in 2018, after 2006.
In 2019, the Neelakurinjis were seen on Bababudangiri hills in Chikmagalur, while the year 2021 saw the hills of Mandalpatti and Kote Betta in Karnataka’s Kodagu or Coorg district turning purplish-blue.
Experts say the plant has medicinal value too.