Munnar Neelakurinji | 2018

Locally known as "Kurinji," these shrubs are mast seeders. They synchronize their flowering across vast distances, covering entire mountainsides in a dense mat of purplish-blue. After the bloom, the plant dies, leaving seeds that will lie dormant in the soil until the next mass blooming event.

For three weeks, the tourist buses stopped. The hills were empty. The Kurinji bloomed for no one but the clouds and the Tahrs. It was a somber reminder that nature giveth and nature taketh away. munnar neelakurinji 2018

Imagine standing at the Rajamalai hills inside the Eravikulam National Park (home to the endangered Nilgiri Tahr). Usually, the terrain is a stoic green—a sea of tea bushes and shola grasslands. But in August 2018, the grass disappeared. It was as if the sky had shattered and fallen to the earth. Locally known as "Kurinji," these shrubs are mast seeders

Until 2030, the hills sleep green. But the memory? The memory stays Kurinji blue. Did you witness the 2018 Neelakurinji bloom? Share your memories in the comments below. For three weeks, the tourist buses stopped

Historically, the Paliyan tribal community used the 12-year cycle of the Kurinji as a measuring stick for their age. When the hills turned blue, they knew they had survived another cycle.