Astonishing story of Saalumarada Thimakka who planted a forest with bare hands

By Isa Isawade

Indian environmentalist from the state of Karnataka, Saalumarada Thimakka, famous for planting forest with her bare hands died on 14 November at the very ripe age of 114 years.

She was recorded to have planted 385 banyan saplings with her husband along a 4.5-kilometre (2.8 mi) stretch of highway between Hulikal and Kudur, Ramanagara district and nurtured over 8,000 trees.

Saalumarada Thimakka turned a personal struggle into a legacy of green activism.

She reportedly spent most of her years on earth planting trees.

According to India Today, people in her village joked that she talked to saplings the way others speak to children.

“But even those light remarks came with a note of awe. After all, she coaxed into the world hundreds of banyan trees, each one rooted by hand, each one watered from the strength of her shoulders.

“By the time India learned her name, she had already laid down a green corridor that seemed straight out of folklore,” the medium wrote.

She was also known as Aala Marada Thimmakka.

According to her biodata as aggregated by Wikipedia, Saalumarada Thimakka received no formal education and worked as a casual labourer in a nearby quarry. Her work has been honoured with the National Citizen’s Award of India. Her work was recognised by the Government of India, and she was conferred with Padma Shri in 2019.

She also got international honours as a US environmental organisation based in Los Angeles and Oakland, California called Thimmakka’s Resources for Environmental Education is named after her.

In 2020, she was conferred with an honorary doctorate for Thimmakka by the Central University of Karnataka.

The iconic environmentalist died in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India on 14 November 2025.