[NeroASERCH]

Swarup: Ancient Tamils classified the land into five categories- kurinji,mullai,marudham,neidhal and palai.

kurinji: mountainous areas
mullai:forests
marudham:fertile plains like the Cauvery delta
neidhal: coastal areas
palai:deserts

kurinji flower blooms once in twelve years, if I remember correctly.

More later!

[S.T.D.]

It seems that kurinji has been flowering for a while and kurinji flower is an important flower in Tamil literature and culture. The topic might have been discussed before but I missed it. Any links are welcome.

[Slonopotam845]

Swarup: Ancient Tamils classified the land into five categories- kurinji,mullai,marudham,neidhal and palai.

kurinji: mountainous areas
mullai:forests
marudham:fertile plains like the Cauvery delta
neidhal: coastal areas
palai:deserts

kurinji flower blooms once in twelve years, if I remember correctly.

More later!

is this the same as the flowers that are found in either ooty or kodaikanal? my parents said they were there on their honeymoon during the year when the flower there which blooms once in every 12 years bloomed. i hope my previous sentence makes sense.

[Lt_Apple]

Yes Fire! They are the same flowers your parents found in bloom on their honeymoon!

[brraverishhh]

Swarup: About kurinji flower:

http://www.globaladjustments.com/nlnov04.html#top

http://www.hindu.com/2004/09/17/stor...1713000600.htm


Ancient Tamils named their paNs (ragas) after the land divisions-kurinji paN,mullai paN,neidhal paN,marudha paN and paalai paN.
kurinji paN is harikambhoji in current carnatic music. mega raaga kurinji is neelaambari and viyaazha kurinji is sowrashtram. More about Tamil music can be found in Silappadikaram.

[HedgeYourBets]

kurinji plants have already started flowering. More info at
kurinji

nk

[HedgeYourBets]

An article about the kurinji appeared in today's Hindu:

http://www.hindu.com/2006/09/13/stor...1308662000.htm

I actually got quite annoyed reading this article. Look what it says: the 12-year cycle of the kurinchi was "first recorded" in 1838 and "tribal communities" had "evidently" been aware of the 12-year flowering cycle! The 12-year cycle was of foundational importance in sangam literature, for heaven's sake! The author appears completely ignorant of the significance of the kurinchi in Tamil culture and literature - there is not one mention of the important place it had in sangam agam poetry. It would have been understandable if this article had appeared in a north Indian paper, but in a paper published in Chennai??

[Big A]

podalangai: Don't blame the writer. Blame the curriculum in schools and English medium! Besides, The Hindu today is not what it used to be!