Words : K R Ranjith
Photos : Travelbird ©

In the savannahs of
      Blue Mountains
                Munnar

Painted green inside with seat coverings in olive, the bus owned by KSRTC, was cleaner than we expected, was warm and seemed as much a part of the rain-soaked greenery outside. A diffused green glow filled the whole atmosphere with in and outside the bus; the sweet aroma of the jasmine on the long interlaced hair of a dark beautiful Tamil girl sitting in front of us and the rain did the rest: the music. The KSRTC* buses don’t play music and the general impression is that they make a long journey endless! But there are times when you really love these dull red and yellow buses. They are silent, spacious, let you to be in your own world of dreams and they are never in a hurry! And if you don’t have a vehicle of your own, board a KSRTC bus to Munnar and enjoy the jumbo ride in the Aana Vandi (Elephant Bus: keralites have ascribed this nick name for the state-owned buses because they sport two elephants-Aana as they are called by the natives-as the emblem)

' Tiny monsoon flowers in yellow, purple and in different shades of blue struggled to stay glued to the wet and shiny rocks on both sides of the mountain ways 'The Aanavandi carried us to the high ranges slowly through the rain and mist, and at every turn of the road, the wild beauty of seasonal waterfalls gushing out from the hillocks surprised us. Tiny monsoon flowers in yellow, purple and in different shades of blue struggled to stay glued to the wet and shiny rocks on both sides of the mountain ways. When we reached Old Munnar, a few kilometres down the Munnar Town, it was comfortably laying under the thick layer of mist, sleepily listening to the morning broadcast from the Devikulam FM station.

Munnar (meaning the confluence of three rivers), also called the Kashmir of Kerala, is a small town developed during the colonial period by the British planters who found an ideal place for tea plantations. They brought in Tamil labourers and housed them in laayams- rows of single roomed hutments- tomake the thick forest land cultivable. The wood from the Munnar hills brought huge revenues for the colonial rulers. Thousands of hectares of thick forests were chopped down to make Munnar a tea county.

Heavy monsoon rains welcomed us in the town dotted with tea gardens. But the rains hadn’t dampen the spirit of hundreds of tourists that flocked to witness the mass flowering of Neelakkurinji- a flower that bloom once in 12 years. Relentless rain and thick fog made the journey to the Eravikulam National Park difficult. So after a refreshing tea we ventured out to enjoy the smells and sounds of the town. (Once you are in Munnar, never forget to taste the different flavours of tea available in the town. You can have the Kulukkumalai Tea, which is known to be the highest grown tea in the world and a number of varied flavours: from minted green tea to vanilla.)

The market with paved walkways was abuzz with vendors cajoling possible customers both in Malyalam and Tamil. Fresh carrots, cabbages, garlic from the villages of Vattavada, fresh beans, sugar cane from Marayur and different variety of fruits were all on display, the colours of which offered a real feast for the eyes. Few could resist the temptation to chew the fresh juicy carrots bright and clean with green leaves. The carrots are great if you have a sprinkling of pepper and sea salt and a smear of lemon. The vendor Kumar takes leave from the tea plantations during the season to sell the carrots he himself cultivates in a small patch of leased land. He also had a few bags of tree tomato, a native fruit for those who cherish different tastes and flavours. It is a sweet and sour fruit with bright red skin.

When the monsoon frenzy seemed to subside, we started off to Eravikulam National Park famous for the Nilgir Tahr, a wild goat known for its ability to scale mountain tops and slippery rocks with high dexterity. The news that Neelakkurinji had started blooming in the hillocks of Munnar had almost crowded the entrance of the Eravikulam National Park. Neelakkurinji (Strobilanthes Kunthiana.) is a unique shrub species that blooms in the high altitudes between 1,600 metres and 2695 m of the Western Ghats once in 12 years. The mass flowering of the shrub literally paint the whole mountains blue.

The National Park has a number of buses to take the visitors inside the protected sanctuary. The bus steers slowly through the descending fog. At the end of journey there is a small museum displaying photographs of the flora and fauna of the park. From here on you can walk up along with other visitors enjoying the vast grasslands and if you are lucky you can have chance meetings with the Nilgiri Tahr.

As the clouds gave some room, long shafts of sun peeped from above lending an indescribable halo over the grass expands. The Shola forests at the convergence of slopping mountains were brightened up by the sun for a flicker before the fog again descended over them playing a great vanishing trick.The drizzle grew stronger and suddenly it began to pour like anything. And it meant our chance of spotting the mountain goat was almost impossible.

At every passing of the fog, one could see the vast plains of Neelakkurinji drenched fresh in the monsoon. Prasad, a local reporter of a daily newspaper told us that once the monsoon clouds keep away from the mountains, the Kurinji will bloom in full might. He said the flowering will continue for two months. The mass blooming season is a honey man’s delight. The native honey hunters will have busy time during and after the flowering season. Once in twelve years the Muthuvar, a tribe of the forests around will have special ceremonies to welcome the mass blooming, rich with lore and rituals. Kerala celebrated the full bloom with a week long Kurinji Festival. The Government of Kerala has already unveiled an ambitious plan to protect the Neelakurinji grass lands as a sanctuary which is the first ever wild life sanctuary dedicated to a single flower.
* Kerala State Road Transport Corporation.

© travelbird