Biligiri Ranganathaswamy Temple (BRT) Tiger Reserve, in Hanur taluk of Chamarajanagar district, is witnessing a rare phenomenon — the blooming of rare blue and purplish neelakurinji flowers, also known as Strobilanthes Kunthiana.
These flowers bloom once every seven or 12 years, and were witnessed at Mandalpatti and Betta Kote in Kodagu district and also on the mountains of Chikkamagaluru a couple of months ago.
The flowers have blossomed on the mountains at Byluru in BRT forest and Punajanuru wildlife range. The whole mountain looks like it is covered with a blue flower carpet. However, as the mountains are on the limits of Tiger Reserve, there is no opportunity for the public to enjoy the view.
Santosh Kumar, Deputy Conservator of Forest, BRT range, said, "I've witnessed the neelakurinji for the first time after taking charge here. This would be recorded as per the norms. Besides, it would be verified whether the department has recorded about Neelakurinji flowers in the region earlier".
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