Neelakurinji flowers
The Nilgiri Hills are a mountain range located in the southern part of India. This mountain range is part of the Western Ghats range. There are many hill stations in this region which make it a suitable tourist destination. Some part of the Nilgiri mountain range also falls in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. The highest peak here is Doddabetta.
The Nilgiri Hills are famous for their natural beauty and a special attraction of these hills are the Neelakurinji flowers. These flowers bloom once every 12 years and when they bloom, the entire hill becomes colored with blue.
What are Neelakurinji flowers?
Neelakurinji is a type of bushy plant found in the Nilgiri Hills. The flowers that grow on this plant are blue in color and their beauty is worth seeing. These flowers are so beautiful that people come from far and wide to see them.
This time Neelakurinji flowers are blooming on Nilgiri, it blooms near the tribal village named Toda in Nilgiri. This sight is seen only once in 12 years.
Who are the tribals named Toda?
The tribals named Toda are a small animal husbandry community living in the Nilgiri Hills of South India. They belong to the Dravidian language family and are believed to have evolved around the third century BC. Todas are mainly dependent on animal husbandry, whose milk products they used to trade with the neighboring people of the Nilgiri Hills. The sacred buffalo is a feature in the Toda religion.
IMAGE SOURCE :britannica
The Toda people lived in isolation in the Nilgiri Hills for centuries. The current Toda population lives in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, which is part of the Western Ghats. The region was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012 due to its unique ecology and rich botanical diversity. Toda embroidery has emerged as a distinctive cultural practice here. Toda culture is based on a symbiotic relationship with its natural environment.