Chikkamagaluru: Hundreds of tourists who visited Mullayyanagiri and Baba Budangiri in the Chandradrona hill range in search of Neelakurinji flowers are returning disappointed. Tourists from across the state have been thronging the hills after old videos of Neelakurinji bloom went viral on social media. However, officials and botanists have clarified that the mass bloom is not happening this year.Visitors expecting purple hillsides were disappointed, while the increased footfall is putting pressure on sensitive grasslands and shola patches. Experts have urged tourists to verify updates through official channels before planning trips.Arjun from Mysuru, who reached Chandradrona Hills along with friends to witness the purple blooms, said, “A video on social media misled us. We had no plans to visit the region; we came only to see Neelakurinji flowers. We will try next time.”Along the road from Sri Guru Dattatreya Baba Budan Swamy Dargah to Galikere, a few blue flowers have bloomed sporadically on single plants, but the entire hill is not covered.Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana) blooms once in 12 years. It bloomed in lakhs in 2022 on these hills. For it to bloom on the same scale, one has to wait for another eight years. Some people have shot videos of a single plant bloom and are circulating old videos along with it, misleading tourists.Environmentalists and botany researchers camping in Chandradrona range said tourists are asking them where the flowers are, but there is nothing to show. Locals said there are no blooms this year. In 2006, the hills were fully covered with Neelakurinji. In 2022, it bloomed along Manikyadhara waterfall road, Seethalayyanagiri, Kavikal Mutt and other places. In 2021, it bloomed in parts of Seethalayyanagiri, and in 2020, it bloomed at Devara Betta in Mudigere taluk.The Gurige flower that has bloomed on both sides of Galikere road is called ‘Gurige’ flower (Strobilanthes heyneana Nees), which blooms every year and has now started wilting. Tourists who came in search of Neelakurinji are seeing Gurige and returning.“I too came after seeing a video claiming Neelakurinji has bloomed. What is here is not Neelakurinji. It is Strobilanthes heyneana Nees which blooms here every year,” said naturalist Madhu Kumar.
