Neelakurinji is a common name of Strobilanthes Kunthianus in Tamil and Malayalam language. Neela meaning is blue and kurinji is the local name for the flower.Neelakurinji is a flower that found in the shola forest of Western Ghat. Scientific name of this flower is Strobilanthes Kunthianus . This is one type shrub that found in Nilgiri Hill. Nilgiri means Blue Mountain because of kurinji flower makes Nilgiri hills blue .Kurinji is a bright blue-bell shaped flower.The speciality of the flower is that it blooms once in 12 year! Some kurinji flowers bloom once every seven years and then die. After they die, subsequently their seeds sprout and continue the cycle of life and death.
The Paliyan tribal in Tamil Nadu used it as a reference to calculate their age.August 2018 is the best blooming season of Neelakurinji.In this time Munnar blooms blue and the hills change from green to blue.This time of the decade has come ,the time nature lovers and travel buffs have been waiting for.The last bloom took place in 2006.The prime attracting factor of this flower eye-soothing blue colour.It grows at an altitude of 1300 to 2400 meters. Munnar is a mecca for every travel lover.Every traveller must have experienced the charm of Munnar. Blooming season of Neelakurinji starts from August and it ends in November.The peak time of blooming period is september and October.