Amid corona gloom, Kurinji blooms in The Nilgiris

The bloom has been more on Naduvattam, TR Bazaar slopes and in different parts of the Gudalur region. “The bloom of kurinji is an added attraction to tourists. Of the 150 species in India, atleast 30 varieties are home to the Nilgiris alone. Many of the species bloom once in 12 years, while there are others that bloom once in three, seven and differing intervals,” said Dharmalingam Venugopal, director of the Nilgiris Documentation Centre (NDC).

Kurinji’s presence has shrunk indiscriminately over the years and is now mainly found in some interior parts of the district, where there is minimal human interference. “Increase in the area of farming and tea cultivation has led to gradual phasing out of kurinji flowers. Efforts should be taken to identify its different species, document and conserve them for future,” he said. Tracing the history of the flower, Venugopal said that kurinji was first spotted in the Nilgiris more than 194 years ago in September 1826 during a visit by the then Madras Governor Sir Thomas Munro to the hills.

“Thereafter, MD Cockburn, the district collector of Salem between 1820 and 1829, who introduced coffee plantation in Yercaud hills, had compiled a data on the blossoming of the flower in the Nilgiris. In the early years, the tribal population in the hills calculated their age based on the flowers bloom. It’s now pivotal to take up a similar exercise to conserve the flower from extinction,” he added.

The bloom of kurinji has strikingly come at a time when the hills have been opened up for restricted tourism for the second season after about five months due to COVID-19 lock down.