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The road to Munnar is lined with signboards on Neelakurinji and Nilgiri tahr. The Kerala forest department is on a double-edged drive to advertise and create awareness on the rare flower that blooms only once in 12 years. Official estimate expects 5 lakh visitors to this popular hill station this season. Forest and tourism department have joined the Idukki district administration to form task teams to manage the mega event.

Twelve years of solitude

Don Sebastian
2007-03-08 19:34:26

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shades of love to the five landscapes named after the prominent flower. Kurinji, the hills, has clandestine love as its theme and Neythal, the coast, separation. Mullai, the forest, is the wait for the beloved and Palai, the desert, is the separation of married couple. Marutham, the field, is the least romantic - nuptial jealousy.

Neelakurinji has a special place in the psyche of every mountain tribe. The blue flower gave Nilgiris (blue hills) its name and Toda tribesmen their songs. The unique tribe living around Ooty celebrates the Kurinji season with their special songs and dance. They wear their traditional robes with blue flower patterns woven to it. They collect Kurinji honey and make it a means of living. It is a harvest festival for them.

Next day, we go hunting for more Neelakurinji visuals. Beyond Munnar and Eravikulam lies Marayur. From the town, we spot Neelakurinji glowing on a rocky mountain. An hour's trek awaits us. The forest range officer deputes a guide to lead us. We climb through a village of Tamil labourers and a hamlet of Muthuva tribesmen before reaching a hill wrapped in blue.

The feel is completely different from Munnar. The shrub grows to a man's height. The thick growth presents a sea of waving flowers. Wherever you look, Neelakurinji dominates. It's already noon. Mani and Sasi, our companions, tell us that Neelakurinji is bluer in the morning. With each ray, it becomes pale. Sometimes, it's a bleached blue. Still the forest of flowers is awesome.

Once upon a time, the hill ranges from Munnar in Kerala to Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu would turn blue every 12 years. Now, eucalyptus plantations and ganja cultivations have taken its place. Still the exotic flower refuses to die out in certain areas. The splendour of Neelakurinji demands physical effort from the spectator. The sight is earned by those who conquer mountains. Others take the easy route, crib about the strain and return without memories.

Neelakurinji is more than a thing of beauty for the tribesmen on the hills. Muthuvar used to calculate their age with the life cycle of the blue flower. It's just one of the many laws of the forest, says Harichandran Kani, the chief of Kammalankudi hamlet, which we passed on our way uphill. Neelakurinji blooms in 12 years. Yet another variety of Kurinji blooms in 18 years. Bamboo flowers once in 60 years. The unwritten canon is endless.

Many rivers that flow to Tamil Nadu and Kerala have their origin in the shola forests adjacent to the Kurinji hills. With eucalyptus and pines supplanting Kurinji shrubs, the streams dry out. Thus saving Kurinji is saving the water source. That's why these tribesmen leave the shrubs alone till the flowers wilt and the last seeds fall on the ground. Then they collect the twigs and wait for 12 years for the bees to collect Kurinji honey.