Sonia Martin, a chartered accountant and nature lover, went to the Swami Malai Hills, adjacent to Kumaraswamy temple in Sandur taluk, to catch a glimpse of the purple ‘Neela Kurinji’ (Strobilanthes kunthianus), which blooms once in twelve years, only to be disappointed.
For, contrary to reports that a patch of purplish-blue flowers deck the top of the hill, only a handful of plants with flowers could be seen. Like Sonia, many nature lovers, who have been visiting the place in the past one week, left a disappointed lot.
“It was a disappointing moment for me. I came all the way from Ballari to catch a glimpse of the rare flowers that bloom once in twelve years. On reaching the spot, I was shocked to see plants other than the neela kurinji,” she told The Hindu.
A fortnight ago, when this correspondent visited the place on Devagiri Road, adjacent to Kumaraswamy temple, a major pilgrim centre, a patch of fully-bloomed neela kurinji could be seen. There were reports about similar patches of flowers seen in a couple of more places in Ramanamalai hills.
Enquiries revealed that lot of people visited the place near Kumaraswamy temple during September. It is suspected that the visitors might have taken away the plants, either to show them to their friends and relatives or to plant in their gardens, As a result, the patch of neela kurinji might have vanished from the site within a fortnight. The only saving grace was that a few plants with flowers in singles or doubles could be seen in places that were not easily accessible.
Chidambar Nanavate, amateur photographer and nature lover, has put up a flex board, explaining the details of neela kurinji and also the bio-diversity of the valleys in Sandur, besides requesting the visitors to enjoy the beauty of the flowers and the nature and not to pluck the flowers or plants. However, his efforts to protect the rare plant appear to have gone in vain.
