Munnar's Meeshapulimala Peak Welcomes Visitors as Rare Neelakurinji Blooms

UPDATE - follow-up to Meeshapulimala opens to tourists as Neelakurinji blooms: Tourists can now visit the high-altitude Meeshapulimala peak in Munnar to witness rare Neelakurinji flowers after the Kerala Forest Development Corporation launched a special trek package.

Travel And Booking

Starting Monday, visitors can book their slots using the 'Kurinji' mobile application developed alongside a conservation partner. The Kerala Forest Development Corporation arranged multi-utility vehicles to carry travellers for the thirty-kilometre trip from Munnar to the peak. This travel package costs twelve hundred fifty rupees per person and includes drinking water along with a snack box.

Nature And Rules

Botanist Dr. Jomy Augustine explained that these flowers rarely grow above twenty-five hundred metres, making this bloom quite unusual. Weather patterns like the El Niño effect earlier caused worries that the flowers might fail to open. Officials set a daily limit of seven hundred fifty visitors to protect the sensitive mountain environment. Besides seeing the flowers, visitors get to trek the hills and might even spot the endangered Nilgiri tahr.

Context

Neelakurinji plants are famous for blooming only once every twelve years, covering Western Ghats hills in purple-blue carpets. This ongoing flowering cycle follows earlier blooms that wrapped up recently at Chokramudy and Korandakkad, with the next major season around Munnar anticipated at Eravikulam National Park in 2030.