Saalumarada Thimmakka has no formal education, but she is a self taught environmentalist. She along with her late husband has planted and tended to 384 Banyan trees on a four kilometre stretch of highway between Hulikal and Kudur.

Thimmakka was born in the Hulikal village located in the Magadi Taluk of rural Bengaluru. She was married off at a very young age to a cattle herder named Chikkaiah. The couple eked out a living by tilling land and cutting stones.

They were not able to conceive for a very long time and were subjected to social ridicule for the same.

But instead of wallowing in their sorrow they decided to do something different.

Together they started grafting Banyan saplings to nurture and raise them as their own children.

The couple would carry four buckets of water for the trees everyday. With their small income they did their best to grow the Banyan trees.

The locals have named her 'Saalumarada' which means rows of trees in Kannada. She unfortunately lost her husband in 1991.

She became well known after receiving the National Citizens Award in 1996 and the Godfrey Phillips Award in 2006.

Saalumarada Thimmakka still lives in poverty despite all the recognition. In an interview with Aljazeera she says she has no idea why people shower her with medals and gifts and no money. She regrets that people maybe using her to get funds which she has no say in.





