caterpillardiaries

  Have you ever fantasized about a fairy land ???? A piece of land that is delicately beautiful, that has a magical charm, with unmatchable elegance and that makes you feel adorable. I used to do in childhood. There's a saying, Above all, watch with sparkly eyes the whole world around you, beacuse the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places, Those who do not believe in magic will never find it. And there I found my fairyland, fairy land of Neelakurinjis, at kolukkumalai. To me, flowers bring happiness, that's the reason I named myself sindhumalar, (malar in Tamil means flower) and also that could be the reason that has brought me to kolukkumalai to witness the Neelakkurinji bloom, that happens once in 12 years. Strobilanthes kunthiana, kurinji or Neelakurinji, is a shrub that is found in the shola forests of southern western ghats. Different species has different flowering intervals but they all bloom at once turning the slopes of hil

 Kolukkumalai, its been two years I have gone there but the name still brings smile on my face and glow in my eyes. A hilly Hamlet in the Border of Tamilnadu and Kerala with World's highest tea estate, famous for it's beautiful sunrise and cloud blanketed valleys, and that was also the year and season of Neelakurinji bloom, which happens once in 12 years. Along with all these what made our trip even more Beautiful was that all the disappointments turned to exciting events . The name itself will bring those beautiful memories with all the scenes flashing in front of my eyes.   Me, Jay along with Jaswanth and his friends had reached Marayur the previous day, after a long journey from Hyderabad. The whole trip was Jaswanth's plan but trek to Kolukkumalai was my plan. I actually wanted to trek from Kurangani, but that route was banned due to a major fire accident happened that year, so left with only option, to trek from Suryanelli via tea estates which i