Mizoram’s rhododendron season: a hill state’s quiet festival of flowers

Each spring, the slopes of Phawngpui — Mizoram’s highest peak, the ‘blue mountain’ — explode into rhododendron bloom, and the state’s quiet flower festival draws walkers from across the hills.

The festival is deliberately modest: no stages, no sponsors, just trails, food stalls and the flowers themselves.

Organisers hope to keep it that way. ‘Some festivals are about the crowd,’ one said. ‘This one is about the colour.’