Munnar: Neelakurinji Blooms in Munnar

Neelakurinji is a bush with several branches. The plant grows profusely in the shola grasslands of Western Ghats in India . Neelakurinji blossoms in a clusterd manner once in 12 years. The flower has purplish blue colour when aged. It looks light blue in the earlier stage of blooming. Munnar is blessed with a rich variety of flora and fauna. Situated about 1600 mts above sea level, Munnar is well known for its vast expanse of Neelakurinji. It last bloomed in the year 1994 and attracted large crowd to Munnar. After an interval of 12 years it Neelakurinji started booming sporadically. In a few weeks time
Neelakurinji is also seen in the Selvarayan (anglicized as Shevaroys) range of hills in the Eastern Ghats which is noncontinuous range of mountains running from West Bengal in the north, through Orissa nad Andhra Pradesh to Tamilnadu in the south. 'Selvarayan' is a local deity and the name means ‘the beautiful one’. It is at an altitude of 1,500 metres (4,920 feet) from mean sea level.
The blooming of Neelakurinji has already started in some areas around munnar. From September wide areas of the famed hill resort of Munnar will be painted purple blue! It is a fortune to see the bloom of Neelakurinji, for it is hardly possible to witness the occasion more than half a dozon times in an average human life span. As large tourist flow is expected to Munnar for 3-4 months from September, it would be wise reserve your accommodation