There is a mystical flower that shows up once in decades and when they do, they steal the entire show with their elegant purple colour and make you stunned with their beauty capturing not just the entire mountain slope but winning our hearts.

It’s called the Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana). A flower that blooms once every 12 years. They were the reason why Nilgiris got its name (Nil means blue and giri means hills).

I recently had the opportunity of seeing them, though I had grown up entirely in Nilgiris, I had never witnessed them.
The entire journey from home to the slope of the Santhanamalai, where they had bloomed this year, was too peaceful and soul satisfying.

The excitement of seeing them made me so happy that it brought back the little girl inside of me who was hoping to enjoy this little happiness. The way to the hills is spectacular, taking us into little worlds of tea estates, coffee estates, cardamom estates and small settlements here and there which seem so undisturbed from the chaotic life that I would witness in major metropolitan cities.

The ride through these estates is in itself a great healer with cicadas making the typical noise when one enters a forest and other insects and wild birds bringing those thrilled experiences.

The road is narrow and goes with steep turns and very minimal vehicles here and there. Groups of people stood around the settlements, chit-chatting.

And then came our ultimate destination, the hill slopes where the kurinji flowers had bloomed. I was so thrilled to see them. When we got down from the car and walked down the slopes, my heart was rushing in excitement to see them. We had to walk through the slippery slopes amid some tall wild grasses to witness them.
It was about to rain with strong winds gushing and the people admiring the beauty, and the flowers were dancing to the winds with pride amidst the tall mountains, which was slowly getting covered by the fog, made the entire scene look like a picture painted with utmost creativity.

Standing still for some moments just cleansed the soul from the hectic schedules of work and responsibilities of life.

It looked like time was still and I was immersed in nature and came back to reality when a sudden downpour happened. After a while the rain stopped and we just walked around the park nearby for a while and left the place with a weird feeling of happiness and a heavy heart of leaving this beautiful place.

One thing that made me worry was people plucking those flowers and taking them home, which was so disheartening to see. Why can’t people cherish nature as it is and not want to pluck it away.

Overall it was a healing and refreshing journey that would always stay in my heart.