Saalumarada Thimmakka, the ‘Mother of Trees’, passes away at 114

Saalumarada Thimmakka, celebrated as a prominent environmental conservationist, has sadly passed at the age of 114. Thimmakka was widely recognized for her work on tree-planting and caring for the planet, which gave her both national and international notoriety. The "Mother of Trees" had died in a coma from an illness at a hospital in Bengaluru, marking the end of a long and remarkable career in grassroots conservation. Born in June 1911, she reaffirms her status as one of India's most prominent environmentalists at the age of 114.

Celebrating Saalumarada Thimmakka's enduring legacy

Saalumarada Thimmakka was born in 1911 in Gubbi taluk of Karnataka and raised in poverty and harsh realities to become one of the world's most important environmentalists. She started planting trees in the 1950s with her spouse, Bikkala Chikkaiah, as the couple could not conceive children. Their decision to nurture 385 banyan trees along the Hulikal–Kudur stretch became the basis of her life's work. The couple carried water for kilometres during years of drought, protected saplings from cattle, and maintained their growth with limited resources.

Over the decades, Thimmakka expanded her environmental impact beyond the stretch. She facilitated village-level afforestation projects, mentored young environmental volunteers, and even advocated "tree parenting," urging families to nurture a sapling as if it were their own child. Thimmakka also influenced state-sponsored greening programs, school environmental clubs and community-level ecological production of government initiatives.

She received many accolades, such as the Padma Shri, Karnataka Rajyotsava Award, and national awards for environmental sustainability. She became India's identity in environmental circles and on international campuses, where her grassroots efforts in preservation were publicly and widely acknowledged by universities and environmental advocacy groups.

She later promoted rural water conservation, roadside planting campaigns, and enabled children to learn in an environmentally aware curriculum. Well beyond the age of 100, she still participated in public events, urging young people to plant trees, not only in her own neighbourhood but across the Tiruvannamalai District. Principals, environmentalists and citizens of Tiruvannamalai called her death "an irreplaceable loss," and highlighted that her contributions went far beyond the awards she received. The banyan trees that stood throughout the Tiruvannamalai District, those massive ecosystems she planted, lived on in her honour.