Neelakurinji -A Flower Seen in Kerala India , Which Blooms Once in 12 Years

The Muduvar tribe, which inhabit the mountain rangesavailable. Around the Nilgiris, this flower is called
around Valparai(Tamilnadu) and Munnar (Kerala) in theNilakurinji and is abundant in the Mukurthi sanctuary. In
Western Ghats, calculates its age with blossoming ofrecent years, the Pondicherry-based Salim Ali School
the Kurinji. Neelakurinji ,This legendary flower bloomsof Ecology has been studying the blossoming of the
once in 12years and is due to enliven the mountainKurinji.
scapes, once again in the coming year.In Tamil Sangam poems there are quite a few
In the Western Ghats, at an altitude of about 1,600references to this flower. In works such as
metres, in the region of shoals and grasslands, theAgananurum and Maduraijanchi, the plant is referred as
kurinji flourishes as a gregarious shrub. From the High"Karungal Kurinji", meaning the Black stemmed flower.
Ranges to the Sayadhri Mountains, different varietiesWhen it is in bloom, the honey gathered from the
of the Kurinji flourish in valleys, in slopes and in gorges.beehives in the vicinity was valued highly. One poet
All of them have a periodicity from eight to 12 years.praises a king as "the one who rules over a country
After blossoming, the plant wilts. Though most of thewhere the Kurinji honey is in plenty".
varieties are blue, tjere are some yellow varieties too.Symbol of hills, forests
Geogaphers refer to the ranges south of the PalghatThe Sangam groups of literary works divide the
Gap as the Palni ranges and those to the north as thelandscape into five categories. The mountainous area
Nilgiris. In the Palni ranges, in Mattupatti and Gundumalaiwas known as Kurinji, after the flower. Murugan, the
aroud Munnar, the Kurinji grows in abundance. In thegod fo the Kurinji area, wore a garland of Kurinji
area around Anaimudi also the plant thrives.flowers when he married the tribal girl Valli. This blue
Anaimudi(in Kerala) or the Elephant Peak is the highestflower that blossoms stands as a symbol of hills and
point in South India, being several metres higher thanforests. The other forms of landscape described are
the better-known Doddabetta near Ooty. And themullai(jasmine)which stands for forests, marudam(a
area around it is now called and Eravikulam sanctuaty.tree)which stands for pastoral area, Neythal (an
The Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary (in Coimbatoreaquatic flower)which denotes costal area and Palai(a
district of Tamil Nadu) is contiguous to this sanctuary.tree)which represents arid area.
DocumentationIn poetic works, each of this form of landscape stands
Though this flower has been a familiar subject forfor an emotion or a state of mind. The Kurinji
poets and for the hill folk, in modern times, two Britishsymbolizes clandestine love or premarital romance. At
botanists who explored the Palni ranges-Robert Wightleast one literary work. Ainkurunooru has 100 poems
in 1836 and Capt. Beddome in 1857 - documented thededicated to each of these forms of landscapes.
details and let the wider world get to know about thisThe home of the Kurinji, which had remained inviolate
plant. The Kurinji found in the Palni and the Nilgiri rangesfor millennia, was damaged beyond repair in the last
has been christened Strobulanthus kuntianum. The100 years. Range after range of pristine forests was
Catholic clergy in the Shenbaganur seminary incleared for tea and cardamom platations and for
Kodaikanal kept careful notes of the flowering of thetimber. To promote the leather-tanning industry, wattle
Kurinji.was plated in the heart of Kurinji country. Eucalyptus
In the Nilgiris, it was only from 1858 that we havewas grown to supply raw material for rayon and
records of the years of the plant's blossoming. Apaper. Trees totally alien to this land were brought in
resident of Kotagiri, Mr. Cockburne had details of thoseand introduced, devastating the ecosystem.
years. His father was a pioneer settler in the NilgirisHydroeslectric projects submerged vast stretches of
and his mother (Cockburne's grandmother) had talkedvirgin rain forests. Now in the little space that is left, in
to the Kotas and Todas and had written down datastep valleys and gorges, the Kurinji bushes are battling
on Kurinji. Thus data from three generations isfor survival, like many other life forms of the area.