Neela Kurinji.....The Mystery !

NEELAKURINJI….The Mystery Plant

In 2006 some mountains of Munnar were covered with 'Kurinji' flowers. I was wondering how these mountains got the blue colored covering. When I was watching these flowers a cool breeze came to tease the flowers, wah!! What a wonderful scene. Then I came to know that I can see the Kurinji' flowers once in twelve years. It was very painful to realize that I will not see the flowers for another 12 years. I think there were so many hearts, same as mine. May be because of that, in 2006, God blessed with these beautiful flowers. These green mountains turned blue within a period of 3-4 weeks and they remained blue for a couple of months.. Now we are expecting to see 'Neela kurinji' in AD 2018.

Munnar is blessed with a rich variety of flora and fauna but the most well known among them is Neelakurinji The Neelakurinji or Kurinji is a unique shrub species that blooms in Munnar and the hills across Western Ghats.

It blooms once in 12 years and dies after the blooming. A new plant takes its place with its genetic clock also set for another bloom after 12 years and this cycle of life goes on and on making it one of the most admired and strange species of plants. Scientists believe that the flowering pattern is part of a survival mechanism to escape destruction by seed/flower predators,but still it remains as a mystery.



Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana) belongs to the family of Acanthaceae. The species name Kunthiana has been derived from the River Kunthi. . Neelakurinji blooms in a clustered manner on typical inflorescence stocks once in every 12 years. . The flowering season ranges between August and November with a peak period of late September and October although some varieties exhibit little variation in their phrenology. The flower has purplish blue colour when aged. It looks light blue in the earlier stage of blooming.

On the hills, the plant usually grow 30 to 60 cm in height, but under more favorable conditions they can grow well beyond 180 cms. It can be found only in high altitudes between 1,600 metres and 2,600 m the mass flowering and subsequent death of the Kurinji is the subject of hill folklore.

Although Neelakurinji has flowering cycles ranging from one to 16 years, it has been flowering every 12 years since 1800. What triggers the massive flowering every 12 years is not known. Plants that bloom at long intervals like this is called plietesials. But stray flowerings do occur in between. The flowering season comes between August and November and peak in late September and October although some varieties exhibit little variation. It looks light blue in the early stage of blooming and has purplish blue Colour when aged.

Neela means blue in Malayalam language and Kurinji is the local name of the flower. For those in Munnar, the blooming of Kurinji flower is a reminder that their lives have gone past another twelve years and for those from far off places it maybe once in a life time opportunity to witness the Kurinji flowers covering the hills of Munnar in a blanket of blue.

The Nilgiris, which means blue mountains, got its name from the blue flowers of Neelakurinji. Once they used to cover the entire Nilgiris like a carpet during its flowering season. However, now plantations and dwellings occupy much of their habitat. The departments of Tourism, Forests and Wildlife have initiated a campaign for the preservation of Neelakurinji and its natural habitat.

During the last blooming in 2006, the biggest Neelakurinji flowering was at the Eravikulam National Park in Munnar. It also bloomed gregariously at several places around Munnar and in Kodaikanal. The next mass flowering is expected to take place in 2018.