Munnar’s hills turned deep blue-purple in 2018, and ever since, one number has been associated with the region’s next neelakurinji bloom: 2030.
That is true for the famous flowers inside Eravikulam National Park, the population that drew visitors and photographers eight years ago.
But this July, without the same fanfare, a different stretch of neelakurinji shrubs on the ridges around Chokramudi and Mattupetty began flowering — four years earlier than many people expected.
It is not an early version of the 2030 bloom.
It is a different population, following its own 12-year cycle.
And its time has come.
Two clocks ticking in the same hills
Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana) is famous for an unusual life cycle. The plant flowers just once before dying. Its seeds then remain in the soil and grow into the next generation, which blooms about 12 years later.
The confusion comes from the fact that different populations of neelakurinji grow across the shola grasslands of the Western Ghats. They do not all flower in the same year.
The Mattupetty-Kannimala population bloomed in 1990, 2002 and 2014, putting it on a 2026 cycle.
Neelakurinji blooms only once before the plant dies, leaving behind seeds for the next generation to flower 12 years later. Photograph: (Kerala Tourism)
The Chokramudi-Kodaikanal-Poondi population also flowered in 2014 and is now blooming again.
Meanwhile, the better-known population inside Eravikulam National Park, which flowered spectacularly in 2018, is on a different cycle and is expected to bloom again in 2030.
So, both years are correct — 2026 for some populations and 2030 for another.
The plant’s Tamil name combines neela, meaning blue, with kurinji, a mountain flower. It is also associated with the name Nilgiri, or the “Blue Mountains”.
A member of the Acanthaceae family, neelakurinji typically grows between 1,500 and 2,500 metres above sea level, across the high-altitude grasslands of the Western Ghats.
Kerala’s hills are home to around 43 of India’s 146 recorded Strobilanthes species, and Munnar has one of the country’s largest concentrations of neelakurinji. The flowers are spread across roughly 3,000 hectares of hillside.
That large, fragmented distribution is one reason different patches can bloom on different schedules.
Where to spot this year’s bloom
Chokramudi is currently at the centre of the flowering, with patches of neelakurinji already visible across its slopes.
Forest officials expect the bloom to spread through September and October to areas including Edalimedu near Mattupetty, Sevenmala, Gundamala and the higher stretches of Meesapulimala.
This season’s flowers will not return to Chokramudi until around 2038, making their brief bloom worth protecting. Photograph: (Kerala Tourism)
Locals had already spotted small clusters in 2025. Tribal communities in the region call these early flowers kallappoov, or “false bloom”, which can appear before the main flowering season.
Visitors planning a trip to Munnar this year may therefore want to look beyond Eravikulam National Park. Its famous population follows the 2018–2030 cycle, while the flowering now being seen around Chokramudi and Mattupetty belongs to a different population.
The Idukki district administration is working with the Kerala Forest Development Corporation and the District Tourism Promotion Council to manage the expected crowds. Online visitor slots and additional Kerala State Road Transport Corporation buses are planned, although the final booking process has not yet been announced.
A bloom worth protecting
The wider landscape includes Kurinjimala Sanctuary, which was declared in 2006 to protect around 32 sq km of grassland habitat in Kottakamboor and Vattavada villages of Devikulam taluk.
The habitat is also home to animals including elephants, gaur and the endangered Nilgiri tahr.
The rare mountain flowers are expected to spread across Chokramudi, Mattupetty and nearby high-altitude grasslands through September and October. Photograph: (Kerala Tourism)
With some ecologically sensitive areas, including Meesapulimala, potentially facing visitor limits after carrying-capacity assessments, officials have urged trekkers to stay on marked trails, avoid plucking or trampling flowers and carry their plastic waste back with them.
The bloom also supports other species. Neelakurinji flowers attract butterflies and eastern honeybees, whose honey is valued locally.
But the plant needs to complete its life cycle without disturbance.
The flowers blooming on Chokramudi now will not return for another 12 years. The seeds produced during this cycle will give rise to the next generation, expected to flower around 2038.
That makes these few months important.
For visitors, the sight may last only a season. For the plant, it is the culmination of 12 years of growth.
Those who remember Munnar’s blue hills from 2018 may have to wait until 2030 to see that particular population flower again.
But this year, another generation has its moment — on Chokramudi’s slopes, four years ahead of the date many tourists have been waiting for.
All it asks is that we leave the hills as blue as we found them.
