 Ooty is in the Nilgiri hills, meaning the "blue mountains", so named due to the Kurunji flower which blooms every twelve years giving the slopes a bluish tinge.Udagamandalam was originally a tribal land occupied by the Toda along with other hill tribes who coexisted through specialisation and trade.The major tribes of Nilgiris area are the Toda, Kota, Irula and Kurumba.