Saalumarada Thimmakka was married to Bekal Chikkayya. The couple faced jibes and odd remarks for not able to have children, but her husband was extremely supportive of her. One day she and her husband simply thought of planting trees and caring for them like their children. Today , Thimmakka is a proud mother of 385 Banyan trees. Years after Chikkayya died , she adopted Sri Umesh who continues nurturing the plants.