The Karnataka Government would consider setting up a museum to fulfil the last wish of veteran environmentalist and Padma Shri awardee Saalumarada Thimmakka, who died at the age of 114 on Friday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has stated.
Thimmakka, renowned as the ‘Tree Woman of India’ who planted thousands of trees around her village in south Karnataka, is set to have a funeral with full state honours on Saturday afternoon at her village.
“I am deeply saddened to hear the news of the demise of Saalumarada Thimmakka. Thimmakka, who planted thousands of trees and nurtured them like her own children, dedicated most of her life to environmental conservation,” Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah said in his condolence message.
Thimmakka married Sri Bikkala Chikkayya at the age of just 12, but the couple was childless. So she started planting trees and took care of them as her own children. She planted trees along a 5-km highway near her village in the Ramanagara region of south Karnataka, and is reported to have planted 483 banyan trees on the stretch. However, she became a mother late in her life by adopting a child.
“Instead of worrying over not having a baby, I decided to love, care, and nurture plants. Soon, I had 10 plants as my children and started nurturing them and continued to plant and take care of trees,” Thimmakka had said famously at an award event a few years ago. “When a baby is born, plant a tree and save our environment,” was often her message to people.
She was the recipient of many awards, including the Padma Shri award in 2019 for her afforestation efforts, the Nadoja Award, the Karnataka Kalpavalli Award, and the Godfrey Phillip Award. The Central University of Karnataka awarded her an honorary doctorate in 2020. A Kannada film on her life titled ‘Thimakka and her 284 children’ was featured in an international film festival in India.
Thimmakka used the goodwill she earned as an environmentalist to advocate for better health care systems in the rural areas and water conservation.