ಹೊಂಗೆ ಸಿರಿ — ಮರಗಳ ಸಿರಿತನ
We plant native trees along canal banks, roadside stretches, school grounds, and temple premises across rural Karnataka. No grand institution. No glossy brand. Just sturdy saplings, protective tree guards, and the patient work of growing shade for the next generation.
This summer made one thing painfully clear. The dry borewells, the parched canals, the unbearable noon — the land had been speaking, and we had stopped listening. We needed to plant. Not next year. Now.
Honge Siri was born from a simple field observation. The Hanagodu canal runs approximately 50 kilometres through our region — its left and right banks largely bare. Water flows here for about six months of the year, but unlike a roadside, a canal bank won't be widened or paved. Plant a tree there, and a hundred years from now it will still stand.
Years ago, beautiful avenues of trees were planted along village roads here. As roads were progressively widened, most of those trees were lost. We grieved them. So this time, we are planting somewhere that will stay quiet, stable, and ours: alongside the canal.
Our first plantation drive launches on June 5, 2026, World Environment Day. No name to chase. No flag to plant. Only oxygen to leave behind.
A conversation with the people behind Honge Siri — why these trees, why this canal, and what it means to plant for a hundred years from now.
"ಮರ ನೆಡಿ, ನೆರಳು ಬಿಡಿ" — Plant trees, leave shade.
Every drive begins with a survey, ends with a watering schedule, and lives somewhere in between. Here's where we've been — and where we're going next.
Our first walk along the 50 km canal stretch. We mapped potential plantation points, met village panchayat members, and marked the first batch of pits with the local Tahsildar's permission.
Our first plantation drive opens Phase One on June 5. The first 200 saplings — Honge, Beevu, Nerale, and Aala — go into the ground on the canal's left bank. Volunteers, schoolchildren, and panchayat members all expected.
This page grows with every drive. After each plantation, we'll add new entries here with photos, GPS coordinates, and survival reports.
Honge Siri is a young movement led by people who have spent decades on the ground — and we are actively growing the team.
Decades of grassroots experience in tree planting, native species nurseries, and patient negotiation with village panchayats and temple committees. Thammaiah leads our field execution — from pit-digging schedules and tractor-and-tanker watering rounds to selecting plantation sites that will outlast all of us.
We are looking for agronomists, field coordinators, content creators, and volunteers who want to take this mission further. If that's you — come and meet us.
We focus on lands that are stable, public, and overlooked — places where a tree can grow undisturbed for a century.
Phase one runs along the Hanagodu canal — 50 km of left and right banks. Future phases will extend to the Gundal Dam, KRS, and Lakshmana Tirtha canal networks. Trees here cool the flowing water, prevent evaporation, and stand untouched by road expansion projects for decades.
Around playgrounds and along boundary walls of village schools and colleges. Children grow up under the same trees they watered as saplings — a quiet but lasting form of environmental education.
The unused outer grounds of village temples — sacred land where Neem, Banyan, and Peepal have always belonged. Tradition and conservation walking the same path.
Empty plots around primary health centres, gram panchayat offices, and other public buildings. With official permission, what was wasted ground becomes a microforest.
The strips between highway lanes — usually planted with monoculture neem. We add native species in rotation to build genuine biodiversity into the green corridor.
Every sapling we plant is native to Karnataka — species our ancestors knew, used, and protected for centuries. They survive our soils, our seasons, and our droughts. They give shade, medicine, oil, fruit, and shelter — often all at once.
Shade: Cool resting place for travellers, cattle, and birds along roadsides.
Oil: Traditional fuel for oil lamps; today studied as a biodiesel feedstock.
Leaves: Used in folk remedies for skin ailments. Lifespan 100+ years.
Sacred: A temple-yard staple in every village across South India.
Medicinal: Natural pesticide, antibacterial leaves, healing oil.
Air: One of the strongest air-purifying canopy trees we have.
Fruit: Sweet-tart purple berries traditionally used in diabetes management.
Shade: Dense leaves create unusually cool, dark shade beneath the canopy.
Wildlife: A favourite roost and food source for fruit bats and songbirds.
National tree: An emblem of patience, longevity, and shelter.
Self-extending: Aerial roots create a cathedral of branches over generations.
Ecosystem: A single banyan can host hundreds of species of birds and insects.
The first two years are the hardest in a sapling's life. Goats nibble the leaves, cattle uproot the stem, vehicles graze the bark. A simple three or four-sided wooden tree guard transforms a sapling's odds of survival from less than 30% to over 85%.
"Before we leave this earth, the very least we should do is plant one or two crore trees. That is our deepest wish."
This work cannot belong to one place. Not to one canal, not to one village, not to one team. The air we share, the warming we fear, the oxygen we need — these are questions we all answer together, with our own breath.
If you live in a town, plant in your town. If you work in an office, plant on its boundary. If you have a garden, a balcony, a road outside, a temple courtyard — plant there. We don't need everyone to come to Hanagodu. We need everyone to start where they already are.
Together, in our own small ways, right where we stand — we can grow a forest wider than any one project could ever hold.
Take this idea further than us. Share it.
Whether you have ten minutes or a weekend, money or land or just a willing pair of hands, there is a place for you in this work.
₹350 covers one full sapling — tree, guard, planting, and two years of watering by our team. Donate one or one hundred.
DonateDig pits, plant saplings, deliver water. We organise weekend drives near Hanagodu and across Mysuru district. One Sunday is enough to start.
Sign UpRun a school, manage a temple trust, or own farm-edge land that needs greening? We bring saplings, guards, and labour. You bring the ground.
Tell UsChannel your company's CSR towards measurable, local reforestation. We provide GPS-tagged saplings and quarterly survival reports.
PartnerWe answer the phone ourselves. No call centres, no automated forms. If you have land, time, money, or questions — reach out and we will respond personally.