neelakurinji summer

water colour pencil on paper
8.3 x 11.8 inches

detail 1

detail 2

Neelakurinji is a shrub that used to grow abundantly in the shola grasslands of the Western Ghats in South India above 1800 metres. The Nilgiri Hills, which literally means the blue mountains, got their name from the purplish blue flowers of Neelakurinji that blossoms only once in 12 years.