Rajamala Munnar a Place where Neelakurinji blooms

Image Credits : Aruna Radhakrishnan, Creative Commons Attribution Licence

Kerala is blessed with many natural spectacles and among them is a unique canvas that gets unveiled every twelve years in God’s Own Country.The phenomenon of once in twelve years occurring on the fabled hills of Munnar is attributed to the blooming of Neelakurinji or passionately called by botanists as ‘Strobilanthes kunthianum’.

The flower with 40 odd varieties bloom mostly in shades of blue, and thus in its name Neela in the local language stands for the colour blue and Kurinji the local name for the flower.

The hills of Munnar welcomed Neelakurinji on to its bosom after a period of twelve years in 2014. Revered by the local tribal community and admired by visitors to these enchanting hills, the blooming of Neelakurinji usually starts from August and would last up to October.

Once in Munnar, you may locate the magical blooms of Neelakurinji at Kovilur, Kadavari, Rajamala, Iravikulam National Park, which is home to the endangered mountain ungulate- the ‘Nilgiri Tahr’ and at other places in and around Munnar. Nature lovers and travelers have already started heading for Munnar to savour in this once-in-twelve-year phenomenon.

It is an ethereal experience to stand amidst the sprawling blooms of Neelakurinji. The Neelakurinji plant shows variation in height according to the elevation of the land from the sea level. Usually shorter plants (about 2 ft) are found at the high elevations, while taller ones (about 5 to 10 ft) are seen at lower elevations.

Many tour operators, adventure clubs etc. organise trekking for visitors to reach some of the best locales in and around Munnar for seeing the grand spread of Neelakurinji.

Town:: A motorable road is there up to Rajamalai, the park headquarter. From Rajamalai, one needs to travel on foot for around 18 km. Rajamalai is at a distance of around 15 km from the Munnar town connected to many places in Kerala and Tamil Nadu
Airport:: Cochin International Airport, about 110 kms away.
Railway Station:: Angamaly, about 109 km; Ernakulam, about 145 km away.
District:: Idukki
Longitude:: 10.175381
Latitude:: 77.104491