14 November 2025 | The Day a Mother of Trees Returned to Nature | She Could Not Bear a Child, So She Gave Birth to a Green World
NV Paulose, Chairman, Global TV +91 98441 82044
The summer sun turns the earth dry and dusty at many places in Karnataka. But, there is a long green path now stands as a miracle. It is a four kilometre stretch of banyan trees that rise like pillars and meet above the road in a grand roof of leaves. Their shade comforts travellers. Their roots hold the soil with quiet strength.
This forest did not grow by accident. It was created by the love and courage of one woman. It is the life work of Saalumarada Thimmakka, who took her deep sorrow and transformed it into a gift for the world. She became a mother to hundreds of trees. And in a powerful twist of destiny, she left the world on Children’s Day in 2025, the day we celebrate life, innocence and the future she helped protect.
An Empty Womb and an Empty Road
Thimmakka was born around 1911. She grew up in a simple village and worked as a labourer. She married another labourer, Bikkala Chikkayya. The couple wanted a child, but they could not have one. In a society where a woman was judged by her motherhood, this was a painful burden. Thimmakka faced unkind words and silent pity. Her home felt painfully quiet.
But she and her husband did something extraordinary. They said, “If we cannot bring a child into this world, we will bring life into the world in another way.” They decided to raise trees. They chose love over despair. They chose creation over sorrow.
The Work of Two Hearts
They began this work when they were already in their forties. They collected small banyan plants from the wild. They chose a long and empty stretch of road between Kudur and Hulikal. That lonely road became their nursery.
Picture them walking in the heat. Picture them digging pits in hard earth. Picture them carrying heavy pots of water for long distances every day. They had no support, no money, no equipment. They had only their hands, their strong will and their shared love.
They watched the saplings as parents watch children. They protected them from cattle. They cared for them during storms. They encouraged them during dry seasons. They planted more than three hundred and eighty banyan trees. The people admired their dedication and gave Thimmakka the name “Saalumarada,” which means “the woman of the row of trees.”
Alone but Not Broken
In 1991, her husband passed away. The silence returned, deeper than before. But Thimmakka did not stop. She continued to tend to the trees, because they were the children she had raised with him.
Slowly her story reached the world. She received many awards, including the Padma Shri in 2019. But her greatest award was her forest, which stands today as a living tribute to her patience and love.
Her adopted son, Sri Umesh, now leads the Saalumarada Thimmakka Foundation, which works for conservation, clean water and sustainable living.
A Life That Returned to Nature on Children’s Day
On 14 November 2025, which is celebrated as Children’s Day in India, Thimmakka passed away at the age of 114. It is deeply symbolic. A woman who could not give birth became a mother to hundreds of trees. A woman who created life with her hands left the world on a day dedicated to the joy and promise of children.
It is as if nature itself chose this date to honour her motherhood in the purest way.
Her Message for the Future
Thimmakka teaches the world that one person can create a change that lasts for generations. She shows that love is not limited by birth. She shows that even a person with no wealth and no education can heal the earth with steady effort.
In a time when people search for quick results and loud achievements, she teaches the strength of simple actions repeated every day. Her work was silent. Her steps were slow. But her forest will breathe for centuries.
When we walk under the trees she planted, we receive the shade of her love. Her story reminds us that real legacies are made not from tall buildings but from seeds, soil and patience. She proves that even from emptiness, life can rise again.
She is forever the Mother of Trees. And her forest stands as a message to all of us. No life is too small to make a difference. No love is wasted. And every seed of kindness we plant can one day become a forest of hope.
