A life-changing accident became the turning point in the life of Janaki Amma. After the incident, she was unable to walk for nearly three years. During her treatment at home in Kerala, she began planting saplings around a piece of barren land near her house to overcome loneliness and boredom.
What started with a single sapling slowly turned into a few trees. Those few trees later became hundreds. Without any grand plan or expectation, the 90-year-old woman transformed nearly five acres of dry land into a thriving forest over the next four decades.
Today, she is lovingly known as the “Forest Mother.”
The forest she created, called “Tapovanam,” is now home to more than 1,500 species of medicinal plants, climbers, rare trees, birds, butterflies, and a pond that never dries up. It has also become an open-air learning center for generations of people who visit to understand how one person’s quiet and consistent effort can transform an entire ecosystem.
Janaki Amma humbly says, “Whatever came into my hands, I simply planted it. I never imagined that I was creating a forest.”
In recognition of her extraordinary contribution to environmental conservation and biodiversity, she was honoured with the prestigious Padma Shri award.
