Best time to visit Kerala, Munnar’s famed neelakurinji flower to bloom after 12 years
Best time to visit Kerala: The rare neelakurinji flower blooms once every 12 years in Munnar. (Kerala Tourism)
Starting late July, the Anamalai hills near Munnar in Kerala will be resplendent, clad in a purplish blue carpet. The famed neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana) will burst into flower – a phenomenon that occurs once in 12 years. Hundreds of thousands of visitors are expected to flock to the Munnar hills to behold the spectacle that lasts up until October. This is the best time to visit Kerala and experience this natural beauty.
Munnar is home to the highest concentration of neelakurinji plants in the country – spread over 3,000 hectares of rolling hills. Each shrub reproduces once in its life time and dies after flowering. It takes another 12 years for the seeds to sprout again and grow up to 30 to 60 centimetres high, for another glorious bloom.
Credit: hindustantimes.com