Munnar: True to their age-old tradition of appeasing the Kurinjiyaandavan (Lord of the Kurinji) during the Neelakurinji blooming season, the Muthuvan community performed the Kurinji Pongala on Thursday. The event was organised under the stewardship of Munnar Government College, with active participation from Muthuvan community members. The Pongala ceremony took place adjacent to the Neelakurinji plants blooming near the college campus, where offerings of flowers, fruits, puffed rice (malaru), broken coconuts, betel leaves, areca nuts, and several pounds of honey were made to Kurinjiyaandavan.

The Muthuvan community firmly believes that the Neelakurinji, which blooms once every twelve years, ushers in prosperity. Their faith also holds that the seeds left behind in the dried flowers after the blooming period constitute Kurinjiyaandavan's favourite food. Consequently, as soon as the Kurinji begins to bloom, a priest is invited to conduct the Kurinji Pongala.

During the ceremony, the priest symbolically invites bees to sip nectar from the flowers. Another integral part of the ritual is the priest offering the first harvest of Kurinji honey – collected by the tribal communities during the blooming season – to Aandavan in a dedicated ceremony held at the close of the flowering period.

The puja was inaugurated by Dr Pramod Krishnan, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests. College Principal Dr P J Vincent, Dr Jayashankar, Kumari Niranjana, Santhosh, and Rajendran Sayarmala addressed the gathering. The Kurinji Puja itself was performed by an eight-member team led by Pal Raj from the Kattamudi Muthuvan settlement.

The officiants of the Kurinji Puja included:
Ramaswamy (Swamiyaarakkudi, Vattavada)
S P Venkatachalam (Aadu Vilanthankudi, Santhanpara)
Paramasivam (Idamalakkudi)
Chembakathozhu Kudi Pal Raj (Chinnakanal)
Rajendran (Komalikkudi, Bison Valley)
Rama Raj (Swamiyaaralakkudi, Vattavada)
Ravi Chinnathambi (Veliyamparakkudi, Mankulam)
M Muthu Raj (Chembakathozhukudi, Chinnakanal)